Stem Cell Biology: Development and Plasticity, Volume 1049 (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences) - Softcover

Ourednik, Ourednik

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1573315346 ISBN 13: 9781573315340

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2005

Synopsis

Stem cells have generated considerable interest recently in the scientific, clinical, and public arenas. It is essential that we gain a broader understanding of the factors that regulate the biology of stem cells: their ability for self-renewal, differentiation, and plasticity, as well as the differences between embryonic and adult stem cells. And to learn whether stem cells can be manipulated to replace cells in diseased tissues depends on better understanding their normal developmental properties. This volume offers contributions from numerous interdisciplinary areas bridging biotechnology and biomedical sciences. The ability to isolate and maintain pluripotent stem cells in culture offers exciting possibilities for replacing damaged or diseased organs and tissues. Moreover, stem cells will provide opportunities for major advances in our understanding of fundamental developmental processes. The study of pluripotent stem cells derived from early embryos or fetal tissues has shown that they are capable of replicating indefinitely in vitro and possess the ability to differentiate into many cell types. Biotechnological advances under which growth conditions and factors can be identified and characterized are needed to guide such cells to form organ-specific tissues. Biomedical researchers are also investigating approaches to isolate and manipulate adult-derived multipotential stem cells that appear to possess considerably broader differentiation capacity than originally imagined. Novel therapeutic strategies are being developed to take advantage of the ability of stem cells to proliferate in culture and to survive after transplantation into various tissues, where they may integrate and stably express foreign genes, or repopulate damaged or diseased organs such as the heart, brain, or pancreas. These presentations foster a broader understanding of the factors that regulate the biology and plasticity of stem cells through the picture they provide of the "state of the science" of stem cell biology and by framing the many questions that remain to be answered. NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/nyas. ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences directly to place your order (www.nyas.org). Members of the New York Academy of Science receive full-text access to the Annals online and discounts on print volumes. Please visit http://www.nyas.org/MemberCenter/Join.aspx for more information about becoming a member.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Cover art Various cell surface receptors mediate an intimate dialogue between stem cells and their environment and can modulate the behavior of both in decisive ways. The over-expression of such molecules in neural stem cells can lead to elaborate neurite outgrowth from differentiating neurons. The examples shows a large neuron (body size over 30 um) in culture over-expressing the neural cell recognition molecule L1 and communicating with other cellular partners. Nuclei of cultured cells are visualized by the fluorescent marker DAPI (blue) and the neurons by immunofluorescent staining against the early neuronal antigen BIII-tubulin (red). Microphotograph taken by Dr. Ying-Zhi Xu from the Ourednik Lab of Stem Cell Plasticity and Neural Transplantation, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

About the Author

Jitka Ourednik born Hanz kov& is a natural scientist of Czech origin now living in Switzerland. She is a daughter of the Czech contemporary sculptor Stanislav Hanzik. Vaclav Ourednik is the editor of Stem Cell Biology: Development and Plasticity, Volume 1049, published by Wiley.

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1573315346
• ISBN 13: 9781573315340
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216