title: Blood stem cells and non-hematological clinical practice: pragmatics before therapeutics.
abstract: There is considerable interest in biological sources for replacement, repair, as well as vascularization of tissue. The remarkable properties of blood stem cells encourage interest in their therapeutic potential. But what are these properties, and how do they influence their clinical potential and the advisability of stem cell use as a therapeutic resource? Rational assessment of the significance of in vitro and animal in vivo data should precede the rush from the bench to the bedside. Basic stem cell research is rife with examples where the truth of the subsequently demonstrated mechanism is stranger than the initial interpretation proved fiction. This review will assess tissue contribution by different blood related stem cells, differing possible mechanisms underlying observed repair phenomena, and consider the potency and pitfalls of stem cell therapeutics.
authors.affiliation: Children's Research Center of Michigan, The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Michigan, 3901 Beaubien, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. gparker@med.wayne.edu
authors.forename: Graham C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*