title: Long live the stem cell: the use of stem cells isolated from post mortem tissues for translational strategies.
abstract: The "stem cell" has become arguably one of the most important biological tools in the arsenal of translational research directed at regeneration and repair. It remains to be seen whether every tissue has its own stem cell niche, although relatively recently a large amount of research has focused on isolating and characterizing tissue-specific stem cell populations, as well as those that are able to be directed to transdifferentiate into a variety of different lineages. Traditionally, stem cells are isolated from the viable tissue of embryonic, fetal, or adult living hosts; from "fresh" donated tissues that have been surgically or otherwise removed (biopsies), or obtained directly from tissues within minutes to several hours post mortem (PM). These human progenitor/stem cell sources remain potentially highly controversial, since they are accompanied by various still-unresolved ethical, social, moral and legal challenges. Due to the limited number of "live" donors, the small amount of material obtained from biopsies and difficulties during purification processes, harvesting from cadaveric material presents itself as an alternative strategy that could provide a hitherto untapped source of stem cells. However, PM stem cells are not without their own unique set of limitations including difficulty of obtaining samples, limited supply of material, variations in delay between death and sample collection, possible lack of medication history and suboptimal retrospective assignment of diagnostic and demographic data. This article is part of a Directed Issue entitled: Regenerative Medicine: The challenge of translation.
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomy Physiology & Human Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia. Electronic address: stuart.hodgetts@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Stuart I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Hodgetts
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomy Physiology & Human Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Kelda
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stagg
authors.affiliation: Cell and Tissue Therapies WA, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sturm
authors.affiliation: Control of Pluripotency Laboratory, Department of Physiological Sciences I, Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Hospital Clinic, Casanova 143, 08036 Barcelona, Spain; University of Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Westmead Children's Hospital, Division of Pediatrics and Child Health, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Edel
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomy Physiology & Human Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia; Cancer Epigenetics Group, The Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blancafort
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy; D002102:Cadaver; D002470:Cell Survival; D006801:Humans; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D057905:Stem Cell Research / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D013997:Time Factors; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Post mortem; Stem cells; Translational strategies