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Stem Cells: General Features and Characteristics

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 1

Stem Cells:
General Features and Characteristics
Hongxiang Hui1,2,5,6, Yongming Tang2,4,
Min Hu2,3 and Xiaoning Zhao2,4
1Centerfor Metabolic Diseases, Southern Medical University (SMU), Guangzhou,
2Institute of Dongguan SMU Metabolic Science, Dongguan
3Regen Biotech Company, Beijing
4Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
5UCLA Center for Excellence in Pancreatic Diseases, Los Angeles, CA
6Department of Medicine, VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, Los Angeles, CA
1,2,3PR. China
4,5,6USA

1. Introduction
Stem cells are a group of cells in our bodies, with capacity to self-renew and differentiate to
various types of cells, thus to construct tissues and organs. In science, it is still a challenge to
understand how a fertilized egg to develop germ layers and various types of cells, which
further develop to multiple tissues and organs with different biological functions. In the
battle to fight against diseases, stem cells present potencies to repair tissues by cell therapy
and tissue regeneration. The study of stem cells turns to be a major frontier in 21 century
biology and medicine.
There are many types of stem cells, differing in their degree of differentiation and ability
to self-renewing. Gametes cells (eggs or sperms) are stem cells they will develop to a
whole body with various tissues after fertilizing. Embryonic cells derived from the part of
a human embryo or fetus, are stem cells also with full potential to differentiation. Adult
stem cells are partially differentiated cells found among specialized (differentiated) cells
in a tissue or organ. Based on current researches, adult stem cells appear to have a more
restricted ability of producing different cell types and self-renewing compared with
embryonic stem cells.
Cancer stem cells are a sub-group of cancer cells that respond the escaping of cancer
chemotherapy and the relapse of tumors. This concept has a great impact on the strategy of
cancer chemotherapy and anti-cancer drug design. The new understanding of stem cell has
been applied to treat leukemia (induced differentiation) and bone/blood cancer (bone
marrow transplants) for many years and has achieved great success.
In the medicine applications, the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) reveal a special
significance, as they can be induced to derive from many adult tissues or organs by
treatment of protein factors. Their features can be similar to the natural embryo stem cells.
They provide the source for stem cells without an ethnic conflict.
4 Stem Cells in Clinic and Research

2. Stem cells
Stem cells are certain biological cells found in all multicellular organisms. They are in small
portion in body mass, but can divide through mitosis and differentiate into diverse
specialized cell types and can self renew to produce more stem cells. Different types of stem
cells vary in their degree of plasticity, or developmental versatility. Stem cells can be
classified according to their plasticity and sources.

Classification Characteristics
Sources/types Embryonic are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell
stem cells mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo.
Adult stem Endodermal Origin: Pulmonary Epithelial SCs,
cells Gastrointestinal Tract SCs, Pancreatic SCs, Hepatic Oval
Cells, Mammary and Prostatic Gland SCs, Ovarian and
Testicular SCs
Mesodermal Origin: Hematopoietic SCs, Mesenchymal
Stroma SCs, Mesenchymal SCs, mesenchymal precursor
SCs, multipotent adult progenitor cells, bone marrow
SCs, Fetal somatic SCs, Unrestricted Somatic SCs,
Cardiac SCs, Satellite cells of muscle
Ectodermal Origin : Neural SCs，Skin SCs，Ocular SCs
Cancer stem have been identified in almost all caner/tumor, such as
cells Acute Myeloid leukemic SCs (CD34+/CD38-), Brain
tumor SCs (CD133+), Breast cancer SCs (CD44+/CD24- ),
Multiple Myeloma SCs (CD138+), Colon cancer SCs
(CD133+), Liver cancer SCs (CD133+), Pancreatic cancer
SCs (CD44+/CD24+), Lung cancer SCs (CD133+), Ovary
cancer SCs (CD44+/CD117+), Prostate cancer SCs (
CD133+/CD44+), Melanoma SCs
(CD4+/CD25+/FoxP3+), Gastric cancer SCs (CD44+).
Induced a type of pluripotent stem s artificially derived from a
pluripotent non-pluripotent cell, typically an adult somatic cell, by
stem cells inducing a "forced" expression of specific genes.
Cell potency Totipotent Zygote, Spore, Morula; It has the potential to give rise
cells to any and all human cells, such as brain, liver, blood or
heart cells. It can even give rise to an entire functional
organism.
Pluripotent Embryonic stem cell, Callus; They can give rise to all
cells tissue types, but cannot give rise to an entire organism.
Multipotent Progenitor cell, such as hematopoietic stem cell and
cells mesenchymal stem cell; They give rise to a limited
range of cells within a tissue type.
Unipotent Precursor cell
cells
Table 1. Classification of stem cells (SCs)
Stem Cells: General Features and Characteristics 5

2.1 Embryonic stem cells

Human embryos consist of 50–150 cells when they reach the blastocyst stage, 4-5 days post
fertilization. Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are derived from the inner cell mass of the
blastocyst. They present two distinctive properties: they are able to differentiate into all
derivatives of three primary germ layers (pluripotency), and they are capable of
propagating themselves indefinitely, under defined conditions (Ying & Chambers, 2003).
Dr. Evans first published a technique for culturing the mouse embryos in the uterus and
derivation of ES cells from these embryos (Evans & Kaufman, 1981). Dr. Martin
demonstrated that embryos could be cultured in vitro and ES cells could be derived from
these embryos (Martin, 1981). In 1998, a research team led by James Thomson reported the
success of isolating and growing human embryonic stem cells in cell culture (Thomason, et
al., 2000).
The studies of gene expression in these SE cells have identified many proteins associated
with the "stemness" phenotype and can serve as markers for ES cells. After several decades
of investigates, a list of SE-specific markers has been established (The National Institutes of
Health resource for stem cell research)，such as 5T4, Nanog, ABCG2, Oct-3/4, Alkaline
Phosphatase/ALPL, Oct-4A, E-Cadherin, Podocalyxin, CCR4, Rex-1/ZFP42, CD9, SCF R/c-
kit, CD30/TNFRSF8, sFRP-2, CDX2, Smad2, Chorionic Gonadotropin, lpha Chain (alpha
HCG), Smad2/3, Cripto, SOX2, DPPA4, SPARC/Osteonectin, DPPA5/ESG1, SSEA-1, ESGP,
SSEA-3, FGF-4, SSEA-4, GCNF/NR6A1, STAT3, GDF-3, SUZ12, Integrin alpha 6/CD49f,
TBX2, Integrin alpha 6 beta 4, TBX3, Integrin beta 1/CD29, TBX5, KLF5, TEX19, Lefty,
THAP11, Lefty-1, TRA-1-60(R), Lefty-A, TROP-2, LIN-28, UTF1, LIN-41, ZIC3, c-Myc etc.
The potential to generate virtually any differentiated cell type from embryonic stem cells
(ESCs) offers the possibility to establish new models of mammalian development and to
create new sources of cells for regenerative medicine and genetic disease and toxicology
tests in vitro (Aznar, et al., 2011). To realize this potential, it is essential to be able to control
ESC differentiation and to direct the development of these cells along specific pathways.
Current embryology has led to the identification of new multipotential progenitors for the
hematopoietic, neural, and cardiovascular lineages and to the development of protocols for
the efficient generation of a broad spectrum of cell types including hematopoietic cells,
cardiomyocytes, oligodendrocytes, dopamine neurons, and immature pancreatic β cells
(Murry & Keller, 2008). Today, the most challenges are to devise and optimize effective
protocols to induce differentiation of the ES cells into functional adult cells, and to
demonstrate the functional utility of these cells, both in vitro and in preclinical models of
human disease. For example，effective protocols are expected not only to promote ES cells
differentiation into hepatocytes, but also to induce hepatic functions such as albumin
secretion, indocyanine green uptake and release, glycogen storage and p450 metabolism.
Several recent protocols are efficient to produce high-purity (70%) hepatocytes in cultures,
when these are transplanted into mice with acute liver injury, the human ES cells derived
endoderm is capable to differentiate into hepatocytes and repopulated the damaged liver
(Agarwal, et al., 2008). However, due to the difficulty in controlling of proliferation and
differential potential, and the most controversial issue on ethical concerns, the applications
of human ES cells are currently limited in vitro and in animal studies.
On January 23, 2009, Phase I clinical trials for transplantation of oligodendrocytes (a cell
type of the brain and spinal cord) derived from human ES cells into spinal cord-injured
individuals received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), marking
it the world's first human ES cell human trial (CNN.com, 2009). The study leading to this
6 Stem Cells in Clinic and Research

scientific advancement was conducted by Hans Keirstead and his colleagues at the
University of California, Irvine and supported by Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, CA. In
October 2010 researchers enrolled and administered ESCs to the first patient at Shepherd
Center in Atlanta (Vergano, 2010).
During the rapid development of medicine application of EC cells, safety is always a big
concerning. The major concern is the risk of teratoma and other cancers as a side effect of ES
cell applications, as their possibility to form tumors such as teratoma (Martin, 1981). The
main strategy to enhance the safety of ESC for potential clinical use is to differentiate the
ESC into specific cell types (e.g. neurons, muscle, liver cells) that have reduced or eliminated
ability to cause tumors. Following differentiation, the cells are subjected to sorting by flow
cytometry for further purification. While ESC are predicted to be inherently safer than iPS
cells because they are not genetically modified with genes such as c-Myc that are linked to
cancer. Nonetheless ESC express very high levels of the iPS inducing genes and these genes
including Myc are essential for ESC self-renewal and pluripotency (Varlakhanova, et al.,
2010), and potential strategies to improve safety by eliminating Myc expression are unlikely
to preserve the cells' "stemness".

2.2 Embryonic germ stem cells

Embryonic germ (EG) cells are derived cells from primordial germline cells (PGCs) in early
development. EG cells share many of the characteristics of human ES cells, but differ in
significant ways. Human EG cells are derived from the primordial germ cells, which occur
in a specific part of the embryo/fetus called the gonadal ridge, and which normally develop
into mature gametes (eggs and sperm).
PGCs are mainly isolated from fetal tissue in a narrowed time window (Chapman, et al.,
1999). These isolated cells are subsequently allowed to grow and divide in vitro. After one to
three weeks in vitro, the human PGCs had formed dense, multilayered colonies of cells that
resembled mouse ES or EG cells. Cells in these colonies expressed SSEA-1, SSEA-3, SSEA-4,
TRA1–60, TRA-1–81, and alkaline phosphotase. A small, variable percentage (1 to 20 %) of
the PGC-derived cell colonies spontaneously formed embryoid bodies. The growth medium
for embryoid body cultures lacked LIF, bFGF, and forskolin (Roach, et al., 1993).
The range of cell types in the human PGC-derived embryoid bodies included derivatives of
all three embryonic germ layers-endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm-based on the
appearance of the cells and the surface markers they expressed. This result was interpreted
to mean that the PGC-derived cells were pluripotent, however, it was not possible to
demonstrate pluripotency in vivo by generating the formation of teratomas in mice
(Shamblott, et al., 2001).

2.3 Fetal stem cells

Fetal stem cells are primitive cell types found in the organs of fetuses. Fetal stem cells are
capable to differentiate into two types of stem cells: pluripotent stem cells and
hematopoietic stem cells. Neural crest stem cells, fetal hematopoietic stem cells and
pancreatic islet progenitors have been isolated in the fetuses (Beattie, et al., 1997). Fetal
blood, placenta and umbilical cord are rich sources of fetal hematopoietic stem cells.
Human fetal stem cells have been used by many people including children and adults
suffering from many of mankind’s most devastating diseases (Sei, et al., 2009). Fetal neural
stem cells found in the fetal brain were shown to differentiate into both neurons and glial
cells (Villa, et al., 2000). Human fetal liver progenitor cells have shown enormous
Stem Cells: General Features and Characteristics 7

proliferation and differentiation capacity to generate mature hepatocytes after

transplantation in immunodeficient animals (Soto-Guitierrez, et al., 2009). Suzuki et al.
showed that a single cell in the c-Met+CD49f- lowc-Kit-CD45-Ter119- fraction from mid-
gestational fetal liver has the capacity for self-renewal in vitro and for bipotential
differentiation, indicating that this defined fraction contains hepatic stem cells (Suzuki, et
al., 2002). Hepatic stem/progenitor cells can be enriched in mouse fetal hepatic cells based
on several cell surface markers, including c-Met, Dlk, E-cadherin, and Liv2. Rat Dlk cells
isolated from mid-gestational fetal liver exhibit characteristics expected for hepatic
stem/progenitor cells. Thus, fetal liver cells may be suitable for overcoming the limitations
in engraftment and to allow a functional correction of the disease phenotype (Khan, et al.,
2010), as well as in use of artificial liver devices.
Hematopoietic cells are fetal stem cells in the umbilical cord after the birth of a baby. The
only potential of these cells are to produce blood cells (Lee, et al., 2010). However, in current
medicine practice, they are quite effective in treating blood diseases such as leukemia and
anemia. It is a mature medical service today to store the frozen umbilical cord blood of a
new born baby, and to use for leukemia, anemia and other predispositions if needed in
future (Navarrete & Contreras, 2009).
The tissue rejection problems for fetal cell’s application similar to those encountered in
kidney and heart transplants may limit the usefulness of fetal stem cells. Further research to
overcome this barrier is a hot topic in this field.

2.4 Bone Marrow (BM) stem cells

Adult BM mainly comprises two populations of precursor cells, hematopoietic stem cells
(HSCs) and marrow stromal cells (MSCs) (Lagasse, et al., 2000). HSC and MSC are both
multipotent stem cells. HSCs are present in circulating blood and umbilical cord blood
(UCB) and are able to sustain production of all blood cells throughout life. MSCs can be
isolated from several other tissues, including adipose tissue, placenta, amniotic fluid, UCB
and fetal tissues are able to differentiate into osteocytes, adipocytes, chondrocytes, smooth
muscle cells and haematopoietic supportive stroma (Herzog, et al., 2003; Yagi, et al., 2010).
Human HSCs have been defined with respect to staining for Lin, CD34, CD38, CD43,
CD45RO, CD45RA, CD59, CD90, CD109, CD117, CD133, CD166, and HLA DR (human). In
addition, metabolic markers/dyes such as rhodamine123 (which stains mitochondria),
Hoechst33342 (which identifies MDR type drug efflux activity), Pyronin-Y (which stains
RNA), and BAAA (indicative of Aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme activity) have been
described. The positive markers useful for MSC identification are CD106, CD105, CD73,
CD29, CD44, and Sca-1 (Domen, et al., 2006).
Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT)
are the current clinical procedures to restore stem cells that have been destroyed by high
doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. The isolation of a large number of potent
HSC/MSC sets the basis of new methods for tissue regeneration and cell therapy (Körbling
& Freireich, 2011). Nevertheless, the procedure of BM extraction is traumatic and the
amount of material extracted is limited. Therefore, exploring new sources and isolation
techniques for obtaining such cells is of great interest.

2.5 Adult stem cells

Adult stem cells are any stem cells taken from mature tissue. Because of the stage of
development of these cells, they have limited potential compared to the stem cells derived
8 Stem Cells in Clinic and Research

from embryos and fetuses (Robinson, 2001). Most adult stem cells are lineage-restricted
(multipotent) and are generally referred to by their tissue origin (mesenchymal stem cell,
adipose-derived stem cell, endothelial stem cell, dental pulp stem cell, etc.) (Barrilleaux, et
al., 2006; Gimble, et al., 2007). They play important roles on local tissue repair and
regeneration.
The application of adult stem cells in research and therapy is not as controversial as
embryonic stem cells, because the production of adult stem cells does not require the
destruction of an embryo. Additionally, because in some instances adult stem cells can be
obtained from the intended recipient (an autograft), the risk of tissue rejection is essentially
non-existent in these situations. Consequently, more USA government funding is being
provided for adult stem cell research (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2004).

2.6 Hepatic stem cells

Liver transplantation is the primary treatment for various end-stage hepatic diseases, but is
hindered by the source of donor organs and by complications associated with tissue
rejection and immunosuppression. Thus, the regenerative capabilities of adult hepatocytes,
liver progenitors and stem cells are being studied with great interest.
Adult hepatocytes remain a low mitotic rate during periods of tissue homeostasis. However,
extensive documents have been established of these mature hepatic cells to re-enter the cell
cycle and to restore damaged parenchyma through both cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia
following acute hepatic parenchymal loss when surgical resection or hepatotoxin. Under
these circumstances, liver mass is restored primarily through the activation of hepatocytes
(Fausto, et al., 2006), suggesting mature hepatocytes could serve their own physiologic
precursors (Koniaris, et al., 2003). As evidence, the isolated adult hepatocytes have been
showed suitable for the treatment of liver diseases in both animal and human livers. After
transplantation of primary adult hepatocytes into Gunn rat, an animal model for UDP-
glucuronosyl transferase (UGT1A1) deficiency (Crigler-Najjar syndrome type I), the high
bilirubin level is markedly reduced (Matas, et al., 1976). This view is also supported by the
current clinical practice of that the hepatocyte transplantation can cure or alleviate
congenital metabolic diseases of the liver (Sokal, et al., 2003).
Liver oval cell, a blast-like cell and with the capability of self renewing and multipotent
differentiation, is considered as the liver-specific stem cell. It can be identified only in the
setting of chronic liver injury, when resident hepatocytes are unable to enter the cell cycle to
restore liver mass. (Newsome, et al., 2004; Shafritz, et al., 2006). In multiple independent
studies, these liver oval cells have been shown to present molecular markers of adult
hepatocytes (albumin, cytokeratins 8 and 18), bile duct cells (cytokeratins 7 and 19, OV-6,
A6), fetal hepatoblasts (AFP), and haematopoietic stem cells (Thy -1, Sca-1, c-kit). A recent
study provides direct evidence that active Wnt/β-catenin signaling occurs preferentially
during the transit amplifying of oval cell population and β-catenin clearly localizes to
proliferating oval cells (Sekine, et al., 2007). Although it is not clear yet whether such a cell
mass expanding in vitro is sufficient enough for clinical applications and its possible risk on
carcinogenesis, oval cells isolated from the liver represent a promising source for cell-based
therapy.
Human fetal liver progenitor cells have shown enormous proliferation and differentiation
capacity to generate mature hepatocytes after transplantation in immunodeficient animals
(Dan, et al., 2006). Hepatic stem/progenitor cells are enriched in mouse fetal hepatic cell
fraction, identified with several cell surface markers including c-Met, Dlk, E-cadherin, and
Stem Cells: General Features and Characteristics 9

Liv2. A single cell in the c-Met+CD49f- lowc-Kit-CD45-Ter119- fraction from mid-gestational

fetal liver revealed the capacity of self-renewal in vitro and bipotential differentiation,
indicating the containing of hepatic stem cells in this defined fraction, while the hepatic
progenitor cells lack the capacity of self-renewal. As an in vitro cultivation protocol of fetal
hepatic stem cells has been established, the fetal liver cells may be promised for the hepatic
cell amount in engraftment and the functional correction of the disease phenotype (Khan, et
al., 2010), which should be better over the artificial liver devices.
Extra hepatic stem cells have been demonstrated to be involved in liver regeneration too in
mice and rats studies (Herzog, et al., 2003). For example, cells from multiple extra hepatic
tissues (including BM, umbilical cord and umbilical cord blood (UCB), and amniotic fluid)
may differentiate into hepatic cells with some or many hepatic features, and some of them
have shown the ability of liver repopulation in vivo. Remarkable trans-differentiation of HSCs
to hepatocyte-like cells has been described, mainly in animals with BM/HSC transplantations
followed by induction of liver damage. Lagasse et al demonstrated that highly purified HSCs
repopulated not only the haematopoietic system, but also the livers with hereditary
tyrosinaemia, rescuing these animals from liver failure (Lagasse, et al., 2000). The published
reports have suggested that MSCs may differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells both in vitro and
in vivo. The cellular mechanism of trans-differentiation of MSCs to hepatocyte-like cells in
vivo might be due to cell-fusion, while other reports suggested cell-autonomous trans-
differentiation (Alvarez-Dolado, et al., 2003; Vassilopoulos & Russell, 2003).

2.7 Pancreatic stem cells

Pancreatic islet transplantation has demonstrated an efficient way to achieve the long-term
insulin independence for the patients suffering from diabetes mellitus type 1. However,
because of limited availability of islet tissue, new sources of insulin producing cells that are
responsive to glucose are required. Development of pancreatic beta-cell lines from rodent or
human origin has progressed slowly in recent years. To date, the best candidate sources for
adult pancreatic stem or progenitor cells are: duct cells, exocrine tissue, nestin-positive islet-
derived progenitor cells, neurogenin-3-positive cells, pancreas-derived multi-potent
precursors; and mature β-cells.
The first report to describe in vitro generated insulin-producing islet-like clusters was based
on the expansion of mouse pancreatic duct cells (Gupta, et al., 1999). Afterwards, Bonner-
Weir et al (Bonner, 2000) generated the same type of insulin-producing islet-like clusters
from cultivated islet buds developed from human pancreatic duct cells in vitro. Our
previous study also provided evidence of that GLP-1 is able to induce pancreatic ductal cells
with the expression of IDX-1 to differentiate into insulin producing cells (Hui H, 2001), and
is able to stimulate glucose-derived de novo fatty acid synthesis and chain elongation
during cell differentiation and insulin release (Bullota A，2003). These data indicated
pancreatic ductal cells are potential tissue source for insulin-producing islet cells. However,
at this time, the expansion capacity of these cultivated cells is still limited, and protocols for
in vitro amplification need further optimization for a sufficient number of fully
differentiated cells to allow a successful transplantation.
A recent genetic lineage study (Dor, et al., 2004) claimed the replication success of pre-
existing β-cells and that turned to be the dominant pathway for the formation of new β-cells
in adult mice. Another similar study (Seaberg, et al., 2004) also showed a cloned isolation of
multi-potential precursor cells from mouse adult pancreas called pancreas-derived multi-
potent precursors. These precursor cells arise from single islet and duct cells.
10 Stem Cells in Clinic and Research

The generation of insulin-producing cells from pancreatic exocrine tissue has recently been
reported (Baeyens, et al., 2005). Both exocrine and endocrine pancreatic originate from a
domain of the foregut endoderm, which expresses the pancreatic duodenal homeobox factor
(Pdx-1) at early developmental stages. The inactivation of this gene leads to a non-pancreatic
phenotype, demonstrating its major role in both exocrine and endocrine pancreatic
development. In addition, signaling induced by soluble factors is a prerequisite to pancreatic
lineage specification and triggers the emergence of pancreatic precursors expressing Pdx-1.
Moreover, as Baeyens et al (ibid.) indicated, there were data suggesting the existence in vivo
of acinar-islet transitional cells and the "spontaneous" trans-differentiation of acinar cells to
insulin-expressing cells. Altogether, these may suggest that a population of acinar cells, in
the presence of certain soluble factors, is competent to adopt an endocrine fate.
Some reports suggest that pancreatic precursor cells express nestin (Zulewski,2001), an
intermediate filament protein that is a marker of neural stem cells. These nestin-positive
islet-derived progenitor cells also express insulin, glucagon, and Pdx-1 as well as low with
levels of insulin secretion. However, other studies suggest that nestin expression is not
related to pancreatic precursor identity.
Recent data indicate that Ngn-3-positive cells are endocrine progenitors both in the adult
pancreas and in the embryo and that Ngn-3 expression is not seen outside the islets (Gu, et
al., 2002). Nevertheless, low levels of Ngn-3 expression within a population of duct cells are
not excluded by these studies.
Pancreatic stem cells (PSCs) have the potential to differentiate into all three germ layers.
Major markers present on the surface of PSCs include Oct-4, Nestin, and c-kit. DCAMKL-1
is a novel putative stem/progenitor marker, can be used to isolate normal pancreatic
stem/progenitors, and potentially regenerate pancreatic tissues.

2.8 Eye stem cells

Human cornea is transparent and clear for vision. Unique to other human organs, there is no
blood vessels to provide nutrition in corneas. It is the corneal stem cell existing in the nearby
limbus ring, differentiate and move to the center of corneas to renew the transparent and
clear cornea around every four months. Stem cells in human cornea play a unique and
significant role to maintain the corneal function.
Human corneal stem cells locate on cornea limbus, which is between the colored and white
part of the eye (where it joints the sclera). During homeostasis and following injury to the
corneal epithelium, the limbal corneal stem cells divide to produce daughter transient
amplifying cells that proliferate, migrate onto the central cornea and become terminally
differentiated to replace the lost cells (Moore JE, 2002). When a stem cell divides, each new
daughter cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become a differentiated corneal
cell. The microenvironment within the corneal basement membrane is expected the primary
factor responsible for the corneal terminal differentiation (Daniels JT, 2001). However, in the
case of limbal stem cell deficiency, either due to injury or diseases, it is unable for the
corneal ocular repairing and regeneration. In certain corneal disorder such as Keratoconus,
some stem cell markers, such as CD34, p63, were reported significantly decreased from
normal to keratoconus corneas (Daniels JT, 2001). It is speculated that many corneal
disorders such as in keratoconus, anirdia and alkali burns are likely associated with the
corneal stem cell deficiency.
Cornea transplantation is widely used to treat certain corneal diseases such as keratoconus.
Due to the limited source of donated corneas, corneal stem cells are explored, instead of
Stem Cells: General Features and Characteristics 11

corneal buttons. In a pioneering test on cornea damage patients, stem cells were taken from
the biopsied limbus tissue, grew into healthy corneal tissue in a little over two weeks, and
the healthy tissue was then grafted onto the damaged eye. In the study of 112 patients
between 1998 and 2006, 77% of patients had a successful first or second graft. While the
opaque cornea became clear again, the vision restored. As human cornea is the most tolerant
organ to accept xenograft, the corneal stem cells might be among the first large scale
produced stem cells for medical application.
Another frontier of stem cell applications in human eyes is the aged-related macular
degeneration (AMD). Macular degeneration is a retinal degenerative disease which causes
progressive loss of central vision. The risk of developing macular degeneration increases
with age. This disease most often affects people over fifties, and is the most common cause
of blindness in the elderly. The impact of AMD on patients includes, but not limits, vision
impairment, difficulty with daily activities, increased risk of falls, more depression and
emotional distress. It affects the quality of life for millions of elderly individuals worldwide
(Pulido JS, 2006). It is not only a health challenge, but also a severe social problem across the
world, no mater your ethnic group and gender.
The macula is the central portion of the retina responsible for perceiving fine visual detail.
Light sensing cells in the macula, known as photoreceptors, convert light into electrical
impulses and then transfer these impulses to the brain via the optic nerve. Central vision
loss from macular degeneration occurs when photoreceptor cells in the macula degenerate.
During the stem cell treatment, macular patients are treated by implanting autologous (from
selves) stem cells behind the eye via retrobulbar injection under local anesthesia. These re-
injected stem cells have the potential to transform into multiple types of cells and are
capable of regenerating damaged tissue. Stem cell treatment is so far the most promising
approach to restore the vision from AMD among many strategies.

2.9 Cancer stem cell

Cancer stem cells theory is a finding on stem cell biology and an application of stem cell
features on cancer studies. Cancer stem cells are those stem cells in tumor mass. They
specifically are with the ability to give rise to all cell types found in a cancer sample.
According to the hypothesis, the original tumor is developed and formed from these cancer
stem cells by self-renewal and differentiation into multiple cell types. Cancer stem cell
population consists of only a small potion of tumor mass (around 0.1-1% of total mass) and
can be distinguished from the other cells in tumor mass by special cell surface antigens
(such as CD34+). Both stem cells and cancer stem cells share the characters of stemness, the
capacity of differentiation, the multi-potential differentiation (Gupta PB, 2009). However,
the unique character of cancer stem cells, different from normal stem cells, is the growth out
of control. They, or their descendants, lost the behavior of “contact inhibition of growth”,
the most important character of a non-cancer cell.
During conventional cancer chemotherapies, the differentiated or differentiating cells are
likely to be killed while the cancer stem cells, due to their stemness and inactivity, could
remain untouched, therefore to escape from chemotherapies. It is believed they serve as
“cancer seeds” and respond to the cancer relapse and metastasis by rising new tumors.
Based on the concept of cancer stem cells, it is beneficial to include an induction of the
cancer stem cell differentiation during chemotherapies (Perkel JM, 2010). This will be
expected to increase the efficacy of chemotherapies and improve the survival rate of cancer
patients.
12 Stem Cells in Clinic and Research

2.9.1 Identify cancer stem cell in various types of cancers

The existence of cancer stem cells has been debated for many years until the first conclusive
evidence was published in 1997 in Nature Medicine. Bonnet and Dick (Bonnet D, 1997)
isolated a subpopulation of acute myeloid leukemic cells that express a specific surface
antigen CD34, but lacks the antigen CD38. The authors established that the subpopulation,
CD34+/CD38-, is capable of initiating tumors in NOD/SCID mice that is histologically
similar to the donor. Later, Blair A et al reported a similar but slightly different cancer stem
cell phenotype of CD34+/CD71-/HLA-/DR- in acute myeloid leukemic cells (Takaishi S,
1998).
Evidence also comes from the rational of histology, the tissue structure of tumors. Many
tumors are very heterogeneous and contain multiple types of cells. These multiple types of
cells are believed to be developed from single cells (or a cluster of cells), rather than
assembled by multiple cells. If the descendants of these multiple types of cells come from a
same ascendant, this implies that the ancestor must have the capacity to generate multiple
cell types. In other words, it possessed multi-differential potentials, the fundamental
character of stem cells (Bonnet D, 1997).

Tumor type Surface antigens Year reported Reference

Acute Myeloid leukemic CD34+/CD38- 1997 Bonnet D, 1997

Brain tumor CD133+ 2003 Singh SK, 2003

Breast cancer CD44+/CD24- 2003 Al-Hajj M, 2003

Multiple Myeloma CD138+ 2004 Matsui W, 2004

Colon cancer CD133+ 2007 O'Brien CA, 2007

Liver cancer CD133+ 2007 Ma S, 2007

Pancreatic cancer CD44+/CD24+ 2007 Li C, 2007

Lung cancer CD133+ 2008 Eramo A, 2008

Ovary cancer CD44+/CD117+ 2008 Zhang S, 2008

Prostate cancer CD133+/CD44+ 2008 Maitland NJ, 2008

Melanoma CD4+/CD25+/FoxP3+ 2008 Schatton T, 2008

Gastric cancer CD44+ 2009 Takaishi S, 2009

Table 2. Reported cancer stem cell and their surface antigens

Stem Cells: General Features and Characteristics 13

The existence of leukemic stem cells prompted further studies in this field. Cancer stem cells
have been reported in more and more other cancer types. Followed the Acute Myeloid
leukemic stem cells (CD34+/CD38-), cancer stem cells have also been identified in several
solid human tumors respectively.
As cancer stem cells have been identified in various organ origin cancers, it is widely
accepted that cancer stem cell is a general format and fundamental concept in all cancers (or
tumors).

2.9.2 The origin of cancer stem cells

Where the cancer stem cell comes from? The origin of cancer stem cells is still a hot topic of
discussion and argument. Several camps regarding the issue have formed within the
scientific community, and it is likely that the correct answer is not limited in one, depending
on the tumor types and their developments. Up to date, there is not yet an experimental
model has been established to demonstrate a tumor formation in lab, as cancer stem cells are
usually isolated from end-stage of tumors rather than the initial stage to tumors. Therefore,
describing a cancer stem cell as the cell of origin is often an inaccurate claim, and as
hypothesis.
As cancer stem cells share the features of stem cells and of cancer cells, it is not wonder that
some researchers believe they are the results of cell mutants from developing stem cells,
including progenitor cells, adult stem cells, and the most likely from stem cell niche
populations during development. The rational behind is that these developing stem
populations are mutated and then expand such that the mutation is shared by many of the
descendants of the mutated stem cell. These daughter stem cells are then much easier to
becoming tumors, and because of the large amount of cells, there is more chance of a
mutation that can cause cancer (Wang ZY, 2000). Adult stem cells are with extremely long
lifespan to accumulate mutants that drives cancer initiation. Thus, adult stem cells have also
advantages on the logical backing of the theory of tumor formation.
It has also been proposed that the cancer stem cells are mutants from cancer cells after
obtaining the stem cell-like features. De-differentiation is a reasonable hypothesis, which
assumes these cells acquire stem cell like characteristics by reverse-differentiation from
cancer cells. This is a potential alternative to any specific cell of origin, as it suggests that any
cell might become a cancer stem cell.
The tumor hierarchy is another model to propose the origin of cancer stem cells. The main
point of this model claims that a tumor is a heterogeneous population of mutant cells with
various stages of stem cells. In this model, the tumor is made up of several types of stem
cells, some stem cell lines will be more thrive than other cell lines, as they adapt to the
specific environments. Within the tumor hierarchy model, it would be extremely difficult to
pinpoint the cancer stem cell's origin. It is important to bear in mind that, due to the
heterogeneous nature of cancers, it is possible that any individual cancer could come from
an alternative origin.

2.9.3 The impact of cancer stem cell concept on cancer therapy

The concept of cancer stem cell has a great impact on the strategy of chemotherapy and
cancer treatments. The classic view of cancer is that the tumor cell (and its progeny) arises
from the progressive accumulation of mutations over time, giving it growth advantage over
its neighbors. It also implies that all cells in a tumor have more or less an equivalent capacity
to form another tumor - relapse or metastasis. Under the classic view of cancer, the anti-
14 Stem Cells in Clinic and Research

cancer drugs are designed to target rapid growth cells. However in CSC model, tumor cells
have somehow been reprogrammed to be “stem-like”, and thus grow slower than
surrounding cells. It also implies that only CSCs have the ability to propagate new tumors.
According to CSC model, the traditional therapies that target the bulk tumor are to some
extent pointless, as the resulting shrinkage may look good on a CT scan, but the disease
itself can still recur (Perkel JM, 2010).
Relapse and metastasis are major challenges in current cancer treatments. During the cancer
chemotherapies, the cancer (or tumor) mass is initially shrink, but barely cleared up. After a
while, they usually come back (relapse) with some new drug resistance features developed.
It is believed the cancer stem cells serve as “cancer seeds” with stemness and inactivity
features, which help them to escape from chemotherapy and survive from drug attack. They
are responding to the cancer relapse. Based on this concept of CSC, it is beneficial to include
an induction of the cancer stem cell differentiation before and during chemotherapies. This
will be expected to increase the efficacy of chemotherapies and improve the survival rate of
cancer patients. This induced differentiation strategy has achieved significant efficacy on
blood cancer treatment, such as children’s acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL). A group of
pioneer scientists in China used Arsenic and retinoic acid to induce children’s APL and have
achieved “a complete remission in 92 - 95% of patients with this disease” (Wang ZY, 2000).
However in solid tumors, the differentiation inducers and chemotherapeutic agents are
difficult to penetrate into the inside of solid tumors. How to improve this penetration is still
a big challenge for pharmaceutical researchers.

3. Induced pluripotent stem cells

Induced pluripotent stem cells (Thomson, et al., 1998), commonly abbreviated as iPS cells
or iPSCs are a type of pluripotent stem cell artificially derived from a non-pluripotent cell,
typically an adult somatic cell, by inducing a "forced" expression of specific genes.
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells are similar to natural pluripotent stem cells, such as
embryonic stem (ES) cells, in many respects, such as the expression of certain stem cell
genes and proteins, chromatin methylation patterns, doubling time, embryoid body
formation, teratoma formation, viable chimera formation, and potency and
differentiability, but the full extent of their relation to natural pluripotent stem cells is still
being assessed (Ying, et al., 2003).
iPSCs were first introduced in 2006 from mouse cells and in 2007 from human cells. This has
been cited as an important advance in stem cell research, as it may allow researchers to
obtain pluripotent stem cells, which are important in research and potentially have
therapeutic uses, without the controversialuse of embryos. They also avoid the issue of
graft-versus-host disease and immune rejection unlike embryonic stem cells because they
are derived entirely from the patient.
Depending on the methods used, reprogramming of adult cells to obtain iPSCs may pose
significant risks that could limit its use in humans. For example, if viruses are used to
genomically alter the cells, the expression of cancer-causing genes or oncogenes may
potentially be triggered. In February 2008, ground-breaking findings published in the
journal Cell, scientists announced the discovery of a technique that could remove oncogenes
after the induction of pluripotency, thereby increasing the potential use of iPS cells in
human diseases (Evans & Kaufman, 1998). In April 2009, it was demonstrated that
generation of iPS cells is possible without any genetic alteration of the adult cell: a repeated
Stem Cells: General Features and Characteristics 15

treatment of the cells with certain proteins channeled into the cells via poly-arginine anchors
was sufficient to induce pluripotency (Martin, 1981). The acronym given for those iPSCs is
piPSCs (protein-induced pluripotent stem cells).

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