title: Stem cells in regenerative medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A number of cardiovascular, neurological, musculoskeletal and other diseases have a limited capacity for repair and only a modest progress has been made in treatment of brain diseases. The discovery of stem cells has opened new possibilities for the treatment of these maladies, and cell therapy now stands at the cutting-edge of modern regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Experimental data and the first clinical trials employing stem cells have shown their broad therapeutic potential and have brought hope to patients suffering from devastating pathologies of different organs and systems.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Here, we briefly review the main achievements and trends in cell-based therapy, with an emphasis on the main types of stem cells: embryonic, mesenchymal stromal and induced pluripotent cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many questions regarding the application of stem cells remain unanswered, particularly tumorigenicity, immune rejection and danger of gene manipulation. Currently, only MSC seems to be safe and might be considered to be a leading candidate for human application to treat pathologies that affect the cardiovascular, neurological and musculoskeletal systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Videnska 1083, Prague, 14220, Czech Republic ; Department of Neuroscience, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, V Uvalu 84, Prague, 15006, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sykova
authors.forename: Serhiy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Forostyak
keywords: Clinical Trials; Embryonic Stem Cells; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells; PACS: 87.19.L-; 87.19.LW; Stem Cells