Adult Stem Cells for Tissue Repair — A New Therapeutic Concept?

Abstract

Adult human stem cells that are intrinsic to various tissues have been described and characterized, some of them only recently. These cells are capable of maintaining, generating, and replacing terminally differentiated sue damage due to injury. 1 Hematopoietic stem cells that give rise to blood cells and move between bone marrow and peripheral blood are the best-characterized adult stem cells in humans. Recent data suggest that adult stem cells generate differentiated cells beyond their own tissue boundaries, a process termed “developmental plasticity.” In this review we focus on in vivo models of adult stem cells derived from bone marrow and peripheral blood and their potential therapeutic applications.