» Articles » PMID: 30254679

Isolation, Culture, and Functional Characterization of Human Embryonic Stem Cells: Current Trends and Challenges

Overview
Journal Stem Cells Int
Publisher Wiley
Specialty Cell Biology
Date 2018 Sep 27
PMID 30254679
Citations 11
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold great potential for the treatment of various degenerative diseases. Pluripotent hESCs have a great ability to undergo unlimited self-renewal in culture and to differentiate into all cell types in the body. The journey of hESC research is not that smooth, as it has faced several challenges which are limited to not only tumor formation and immunorejection but also social, ethical, and political aspects. The isolation of hESCs from the human embryo is considered highly objectionable as it requires the destruction of the human embryo. The issue was debated and discussed in both public and government platforms, which led to banning of hESC research in many countries around the world. The banning has negatively affected the progress of hESC research as many federal governments around the world stopped research funding. Afterward, some countries lifted the ban and allowed the funding in hESC research, but the damage has already been done on the progress of research. Under these unfavorable conditions, still some progress was made to isolate, culture, and characterize hESCs using different strategies. In this review, we have summarized various strategies used to successfully isolate, culture, and characterize hESCs. Finally, hESCs hold a great promise for clinical applications with proper strategies to minimize the teratoma formation and immunorejection and better cell transplantation strategies.

Citing Articles

Stem Cell Therapy for Diseases of Livestock Animals: An In-Depth Review.

Narasimha R, Shreya S, Jayabal V, Yadav V, Rath P, Mishra B Vet Sci. 2025; 12(1).

PMID: 39852942 PMC: 11768649. DOI: 10.3390/vetsci12010067.


Microalgae: An Exciting Alternative Protein Source and Nutraceutical for the Poultry Sector.

Zhang L, Jiang Y, Buzdar J, Ahmed S, Sun X, Li F Food Sci Anim Resour. 2025; 45(1):243-265.

PMID: 39840237 PMC: 11743838. DOI: 10.5851/kosfa.2024.e130.


Synergistic potential of stem cells and microfluidics in regenerative medicine.

Rajalekshmi R, Agrawal D Mol Cell Biochem. 2024; 480(3):1481-1493.

PMID: 39285093 PMC: 11842489. DOI: 10.1007/s11010-024-05108-8.


The Current Update of Conventional and Innovative Treatment Strategies for Central Nervous System Injury.

Tsai M, Wu C, Wu C, Chen C Biomedicines. 2024; 12(8).

PMID: 39200357 PMC: 11351448. DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12081894.


Stem Cells and Acellular Preparations in Bone Regeneration/Fracture Healing: Current Therapies and Future Directions.

Brown M, Brady D, Healy K, Henry K, Ogunsola A, Ma X Cells. 2024; 13(12.

PMID: 38920674 PMC: 11201612. DOI: 10.3390/cells13121045.


References
1.
Klimanskaya I, Chung Y, Becker S, Lu S, Lanza R . Human embryonic stem cell lines derived from single blastomeres. Nature. 2006; 444(7118):481-5. DOI: 10.1038/nature05142. View

2.
Albano R, Groome N, Smith J . Activins are expressed in preimplantation mouse embryos and in ES and EC cells and are regulated on their differentiation. Development. 1993; 117(2):711-23. DOI: 10.1242/dev.117.2.711. View

3.
Zhao T, Zhang Z, Rong Z, Xu Y . Immunogenicity of induced pluripotent stem cells. Nature. 2011; 474(7350):212-5. DOI: 10.1038/nature10135. View

4.
Hentze H, Graichen R, Colman A . Cell therapy and the safety of embryonic stem cell-derived grafts. Trends Biotechnol. 2006; 25(1):24-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2006.10.010. View

5.
Cheng L, Hammond H, Ye Z, Zhan X, Dravid G . Human adult marrow cells support prolonged expansion of human embryonic stem cells in culture. Stem Cells. 2003; 21(2):131-42. DOI: 10.1634/stemcells.21-2-131. View