What are Adult Stem Cells?

After we are born, stem cells continue to be produced in bone marrow and circulate naturally throughout our blood stream, tissues and organs - these cells are considered to be Adult Stem Cells (ASC), regardless of the age of the person. You can obtain ASC from a newborn, a child, or an adult. The principal difference age makes is in the quality of the stem cells circulating in our blood. Younger cells are more likely to be free of oxidative damage and mutations. We continue to produce stem cells throughout our lives at a steady state. As we reach our 60's and 70's the number of cells produced begins to diminish. When we are in our 80's and older stem cell production is significantly reduced.

An Adult Stem Cell is an undifferentiated cell found among differentiated cells in bone marrow, peripheral blood, tissues and organs. It can renew itself indefinitely and can also differentiate to yield the specialized cell types of the tissue or organ.⁴ The primary roles of adult stem cells in a living organism are to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found.⁵ These properties make stem cells ideal for regenerative therapies. Stem cell research is focusing on finding treatments and cures for diseases of the blood, immune system, tissues and organs.

Adult stem cells circulate naturally in blood and tissues throughout our lives to maintain the blood and immune systems and repair the various tissues or organs in which they reside by a process called differentiation. During differentiation stem cells respond to genetic and chemical signals when the body is damaged and begin to proliferate rapidly resulting in their numbers growing by the millions. As they reproduce exact copies, they also begin to transform into the specific cells and tissues needed to effect a repair or fight a disease process or pathogen.

Collecting and preserving healthy stem cells early will ensure our clients access to many of today's and tomorrow's stem cell therapies and the option of treating diseases and regenerating tissues and organs with their own stem cells. For example, studies are now underway where doctors expect to be able to treat patients within ten days of a heart attack with stem cells to regenerate heart muscle, increase heart vascularity and improve electrical function based on clinical trial data (See www.clinicaltrials.gov). There are two major types of adult stem cells that aid in the reconstitution of the blood and immune system and regeneration of organs and tissues. They are the hematopoietic stem cell and the stromal or mesenchymal stem cell. The hematopoietic stem cell differentiates to produce red and white blood cells and reconstitutes the immune system. The other well-characterized population of adult stem cells is the mesenchymal stem cell population which differentiates to produce bone, cartilage, fat, tendon, muscle, connective tissue and marrow stroma.⁶

There are two major types of Adult Stem Cells that can be readily harvested and stored: Hematopoietic and Mesenchymal stem cells. The following chart shows some of the major cells that are formed from the differentiation of hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells that are collected in our process. We store the full range of cells so that you have opportunities in the future to use what is clinically best for your needs. Below, please see our "Stem Cell Dynamics" visual illustration.

Hematopoietic stem cells are adult stem cells that provide the blood cells required for daily blood turnover and for fighting infections. They were the first stem cells to be used successfully to treat blood disorders such as leukemia and anemia in the form of bone marrow transplants. Hematopoietic stem cells can differentiate and reproduce your entire blood and immune system including red blood cells, white cells, dendritic cells, platelets, etc. Hematopoietic stem cells are harvested from peripheral blood, cord blood and bone marrow.

The other type of stem cell, the mesenchymal stem cell, is also present in bone marrow and blood and migrates principally to tissue, organs and fat. Like hematopoietic stem cells, mesenchymal cells can rapidly proliferate in the presence of damaged tissue. Stimulated by local chemical and genetic signals the stem cells rapidly differentiate to create new cells and aggregate to reconstruct complex tissues and organs.⁷

Today, many scientists are researching treatments that are based on the mesenchymal stem cell's ability to potentially regenerate tissues and organs in the body.⁸ For a list of current adult stem cell clinical research trials going on in the U.S., please click visit www.clinicaltrials.gov

It is important to note that AssureImmune is not involved in the use of embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells are descendents of your own embryonic stem cells that have survived as you age and are an essential part of your body's natural immune and regenerative processes.