Science is a field that is constantly redefining itself, breaking barriers in the search for knowledge in the hopes of helping others. But, beyond the occasional press release or news article, scientific breakthroughs are hard to come by. Scientific literature is often dense and filled with technical jargon, making it hard to read for people who don’t have a Ph.D. in the field, but who still want to learn about the latest breakthroughs. Here, I have linked and summarized my favorite research article about the potential of stem cells in regenerative diseases. This article defines stem cells, albeit briefly–if you would like to learn the specifics of stem cells, I recommend checking out Andrew’s article.
Article 1: Human Pluripotent Stem Cells in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Potentials, Advances, and Limitations
This article, published by in the Journal of Current Stem Cell Research and Therapy, compares embryonic stem cells (ESCs) with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in their ability to treat neurodegenerative diseases–such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease, ALS, and multiple sclerosis. It provides a helpful background, explains the difference between the two stem cell types, and describes the results of several promising studies.
Neurodegenerative diseases cause a gradual, uncontrolled loss of motor neuron function–affecting your ability to send signals across the central nervous system, and thus impairing your muscle movements. As of now, there is little understanding of how or why these diseases progress. There may be hope with human ESCs and iPSCs, however. These types of stem cells are called pluripotent stem cells, meaning they can renew and replicate themselves indefinitely. They also possess the ability to differentiate–to develop into any kind of cell, such as a liver, heart, or neural cell. Both ESCs and iPSCs allow researchers to mimic the conditions of cells in the human body, allowing for more accurate experiments and results. However, there are certain advantages and disadvantages to each stem cell type.
Human ESCs are known as the “gold standard” for disease modeling, as they most accurately simulate body conditions. However, since ESCs are taken from donor human embryos, their use is heavily debated over. This cloud of ethical and political controversy encouraged researchers to find a similar alternative–iPSCs. iPSCs are existing cells which have been reprogrammed to revert to an embryonic state, usually skin or blood cells. Thus, they avoid any controversy. This paper compared the abilities of both stem cell types, and concluded that while iPSCs have been used instead of ESCs, more research must be done to determine if they are a suitable substitute.
iPSCs have shown promise as a therapeutic treatment for Huntington’s disease (HD), a progressive neurological disorder caused by a mutation in the huntingtin gene, characterized by incoordination, cognitive decline, and behavioral difficulties. Cell samples of 5 HD patients were taken and used to generate iPSCs, and after applying treatment, p53 signaling increased. p53 is a gene that, when activated, stops a cell cycle, and thus prevents HD-affected cells from reproducing. Similarly, a group of researchers created organoids (structures resembling human tissues) using cells from Alzheimers’ patients, and showed that treatment with β- and γ-secretase inhibitors decreased the physical characteristics of Alzheimers’.
In both of these examples, using hIPSCs allowed a platform on which researchers could model neurodegenerative diseases–by taking cells from the patients themselves, they successfully simulated disease conditions and demonstrated promising therapies. While there is a long way to go with using hIPSCs–for example, making these kinds of stem cell therapies more affordable and accessible–there is hope for the next generation of patients.
