There are two major classes of stem cells: pluripotent that can become any cell in the adult body, and multipotent that are restricted to becoming a more limited population of cells. Cell sources, characteristics, differentiation and therapeutic applications are discussed. Stem cells have great potential in tissue regeneration and repair but much still needs to be learned about their biology, manipulation and safety before their full therapeutic potential can be achieved.
In this assay, differentiation of human skin-derived precursors (SKPs) into smooth muscle cells (SMCSs) and undifferentiated SKPs with or without the application of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 or TGF-β3, and subsequently fixed and stained to display a-smooth actin, calponin, and SM22a. Real-time analysis using the xCELLigence RTCA system, correlates the increase in Cell Index with that of morphological differences between the differentiated and undifferentiated SKPs.
Read more