Stem-cell "plasticity": befuddled by the muddle.
In the past 4 years, multiple reports have suggested that stem cells derived from adult tissues can differentiate outside their tissue of origin, challenging long-accepted tenets of developmental biology. This concept of stem-cell "plasticity" has helped to galvanize research on stem cells due to the myriad therapeutic possibilities. However, there are wide discrepancies in the reported frequencies of so-called transdifferentiation events, from recent reports of negative data to reports of the contribution in some tissues and systems reaching as much as 20%. The evidence for and against stem-cell plasticity is reviewed here as well as some of the possible sources of the experimental variation.
Goodell
Margaret A
MA
Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. goodell@bcm.tmc.edu
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D006801:Humans; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*