Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Tissue Engineering Versus Regenerative Medicine

Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Tissue Engineering Versus Regenerative Medicine 

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This article was written in the journal of cellular physiology by Arnold I. Caplan. The research was performed at the skeletal research center and the department of biology at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio; and published by Wiley-Liss, Inc. in 2007.

I chose this article because it discussed engineering of stem cells, like an article we read earlier in one of our previous SNBAL assignments. The engineering of stem cells from mature bone marrow peeked my interest because it wasn't from an embryo. I also liked how the article discusses the differences in ages and the affect of age on the stem cells efficiency to reconstruct. I also liked the visual given by the adult mesenchymal stem cells proliferation, and how it can be transformed into bone, marrow, cartilage, muscle, ligaments, and connective tissue.

This article is about tissue engineering from MSC's (Mesenchymal Stem Cells). The benefit of using MSC's over other stem cells is that they can differentiate into distinctive mesenchymal phenotypes. This can be beneficial because it allows   for regeneration of different body systems. However, it can be difficult to find MSC's because as you get older, your body generates less stem cells. The MSC's that come from adult bone marrow contain a rare and multifunctional progenitor cells. The most important functions that these MSC's can perform include the ability to differentiate between end-stage cell types, as previously mentioned, which allows the cells to be used to reform mesenchymal tissue and allows for tissue engineering. MSC's also have regenerative factors which allow for self regeneration in tissues. All these functions allow for the interest in tissue engineering through mesenchymal stem cells.