Cell therapy is defined as the minimally-invasive delivery of therapeutic cells into a human host to repair damaged or diseased tissue(s). Its long-term goal is to reduce the current expense of 1% of US GDP on organ replacement therapies (Lysaght, et al., 2008). Hematopoietic stem cell transplants are the most popular cell therapy and have been crucial in treating a variety of hematological diseases (Cutler and Antin, 2001; Horowitz, 2004). For novel cellular therapies (i.e. using non-hematopoietic cells directed against nonhematological diseases), the numbers fall off precipitously. Of these, only cell-based cartilage repair is the only novel cell therapy so far used with significant frequency (Martin, et al., 2010). Since this therapy additionally requires the expansion of and the use of autologous chondrocytes, this data suggests a crucial bottleneck for a wide variety of novel cellular therapies will be both in producing enough rare cells for therapeutic effect as well as for obviating immunologic concerns. The emergence of stem cell biology has reshaped the cell therapy and tissue engineering landscape because the quantity and breadth of therapeutic cell has been dramatically expanded. Stem cells are typically derived from embryos or adult tissues and have two abilities: to self-renew (i.e. one stem cell can divide and make more stem cells) and to differentiate into specialized cells. These characteristics allow stem cells to be used to produce large quantities of a wide variety of cell types, including rare or difficult to harvest cell types (Takahashi, et al., 2007; Thomson, et al., 1998; Yu, et al., 2007). The therapeutic value of these cells can captured by either using them to directly produce new tissue (Keirstead, et al., 1999) or as a source of bioactive agents such as cytokines and growth factors inducing host cells and tissues to regenerate themselves (Caplan and Dennis, 2006). In addition, a wide variety of stem cells can be harvested or derived from adult tissues such as bone marrow, adipose tissue, or cord blood (Ingram, et al., 2004; Lennon and Caplan, 2006; Zuk, et al., 2001). Adult stems can potentially lower the hurdle of immunologic incompatibility due to either their autologous nature or immunomodulatory effects (Caplan and Dennis, 2006). While stem cells obviate the shortcomings of using a patient’s differentiated cells, the ratelimiting step in successful cell therapy is not only the number of transplanted cells but their survival rate post-transplantation. In short, the transplanted stem cells need help to stay
The Use of a Hydrogel Matrix as a Cellular Delivery Vehicle in Future Cell-Based Therapies: Biological and Non-Biological Considerations
T. Zarembinski,W. Tew,Sarah K. Atzet
Published 2011 in Unknown venue
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2011
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Unknown venue
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2011-08-29
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine, Materials Science, Engineering
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