Clonación y células madre

Physiological Microenvironmental Conditions in Different Scalable Culture Systems for Pluripotent Stem Cell Expansion and Differentiation

Human Pluripotent Stem Cells (PSCs) are a valuable cell type that has a wide range of biomedical applications because they can differentiate into many types of adult somatic cell. Numerous studies have examined the clinical applications of PSCs. However, several factors such as bioreactor design, mechanical stress, and the physiological environment have not been optimized. These factors can significantly alter the pluripotency and proliferation properties of the cells, which are important for the mass production of PSCs. Nutritional mass transfer and oxygen transfer must be effectively maintained to obtain a high yield. Various culture systems are currently available for optimum cell propagation by maintaining the physiological conditions necessary for cell cultivation. Each type of culture system using a different configuration with various advantages and disadvantages affecting the mechanical conditions in the bioreactor, such as shear stress. These factors make it difficult to preserve the cellular viability and pluripotency of PSCs. Additional limitations of the culture system for PSCs must also be identified and overcome to maintain the culture conditions and enable large-scale expansion and differentiation of PSCs. This review describes the different physiological conditions in the various culture systems and recent developments in culture technology for PSC expansion and differentiation.

[Therapeutic applications of stem-cells]

In the last years stem cells (SC) have generated huge expectations and have become a new hope for the development of novel cell therapies in the context of regenerative medicine. So far, the hypothetic therapeutic effects of SC, both of embryonic and adult origin, have been demonstrated only in a very few cases. Embryonic SC are pluripotential and have, in theory, more plasticity to differentiate into a wide range of cell or tissue types. However, the society still has to decide on the ethics of its use. Regarding adult SC, they are readily available and are fully matched. However, whether their potential will translate into therapeutic benefits in humans needs to be determined as yet. This article is intended to give a general overview on this field, based on the current scientific knowledge.