Are reprogrammed adult stem cells somehow inferior to embryonic ones?
Are reprogrammed adult stem cells somehow inferior to embryonic ones?
Last Updated on Saturday, 24 July 2010 03:53 Written by Administrator Saturday, 24 July 2010 03:53
Question by enteetee_ex: Are reprogrammed adult stem cells somehow inferior to embryonic ones?
Everything I’ve heard about it is that adult stem cells that have been reprogrammed to a pluripotent state are exactly identical to embryonic stem cells in every way. Is that the truth?
I’m looking for a scientific answer here, not socio-political commentary, sound bite transcribes or bumper sticker material. Just yes or no with some kind of SCIENTIFIC elaboration.
Thank you.
Best answer:
Answer by sanga282
people have never actually converted a particular cell all the way back to an embryonic stem cell, at this stage it has the capactiy to become any cell it wants to be. An adult stem cell can only regrow into the type of cell you made it from e.g. if you took a liver cell that stem cell will ONLY grow into a liver cell. Thats why the major advance in medicine will come when we can replicate embryonic stem cells because they are amazingly flexible
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
i think its inferior as the embryonic stem cells have more telomere length that of adult stem cells
If a cell is “retrodifferentiated” back into a pluripotent state, then it is just that: pluripotent. It has the same capabilities, but the cell usually ends up a little worse for wear afterwards. This is primarily because adult cells have been around for a long time. They’ve acquired mutations, undergone epigenetic changes, and worn down their telomeres. They can still differentiate into any cell, but they’re a little beat up. The retrodifferentiation process only compounds matters. Blasting a cell with a variety of growth factors can trick it into thinking that it’s a stem cell, but each one of those growth factors can have significant side-effects on the cell.
So, while reprogrammed adult cells aren’t that inferior to embryonic stem cells, they aren’t quite as hardy. Personally, I believe that research with embryonic cells is necessary to develop the technology to a working state, since they are more robust and exist in a natural pluripotent state (minimizing unforseen variables). Once we know how to differentiate and implant newly grown cells, we can go back and adapt the technology to reprogrammed stem cells. We would have the added benefit of being able to use the patients own cells, eliminating the chances of rejection.