Meeting report from the Euroscicon event: 4th June 2013, London, UK
Meeting Chair: Dr Lyn Healy, NIBSCC, UK
Author: Dr Aida Rodríguez.
School of Biosciences. University of Nottingham. UK.
Editors: Dr Astrid Englezou and Dr Shara Cohen
[amazon asin=B00HMUUI3U&text=View on Amazon]
Pluripotency is the cell’s capacity to generate all cell types found within an adult organism. Through development, the pluripotent potential of these cells decreases, along with the specification and differentiation to new tissues and cell types. The ability of pluripotent cells to give rise to the three embryonic cell lineages (Ectoderm, Mesoderm, and Endoderm) allows the study of genetic disorders, early embryo development and their use in cell therapy and tissue engineering.
An understanding of the signalling pathways involved in maintaining the pluripotent status of these cells, and the mechanism that trigger the differentiation process under specific conditions, has allowed the translation to clinical sciences. Although the culture conditions for pluripotent cells are crucial to maintain the cell lines in vitro, other factors such as the extracellular matrices that support the cell types/tissue developed in vitro are equally as important for closely replicating the features of differentiated cells in vitro.
In the last decades, regenerative medicine research, together with the cell therapy, has emerged as one of the main areas of knowledge in the field of biology. The focus of regenerative medicine is to deliver effective and safe therapies, with the aim of maintaining, improving or restoring tissue functions by means of the regeneration or replacement of a defective cell population. Since 2006, when Takahashi and Yamanaka [1] reprogrammed lineage restricted cells to pluripotency (also known as induced pluripotent stem cells, iPS cells) by overexpression of pluripotency transcription factors, this created a new opportunity for generating patient-specific pluripotent cell lines with great potential for regenerative medicine.
The 4th annual “Induced pluripotent stem cells” meeting, organized by EuroSciCon, was part of the 2013 Stem Cell Trilogy Event. The main topics of the conference included: human iPS cells with emphasis on the clinical applications, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
The first session of the meeting was chaired by Dr. Lyn Healy, who has more than 20 years of experience in the stem cell field and holds a position as senior Stem Cell Biologist at the UK Stem Cell Bank (National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, UK). An interesting aspect of the sessions were the broad range of topics covered, including biophysical changes through reprogramming, derivation of metabolically active hepatocytes, age-related macular degeneration and modelling the early embryo development using iPS cells.
- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 1099 KB
- Print Length: 28 pages
- Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
- Publisher: Honnao (1 Jan 2014)
- Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00HMUUI3U
[amazon asin=B00HMUUI3U&text=View on Amazon]
Contents
Abstract.
Deriving Metabolically Active Hepatocytes from Pluripotent Stem Cells.
Biophysical considerations of differentiation and reprogramming in embryonic stem cells.
Surround yourself with support – showcasing services and products from Life TechnologiesTM..
Stemming visual loss using pluripotent stem cells.
Using iPS cells to model embryo development.
Question and Answer Session.
References.
Biographies.
Dr Lyn Healy.
Dr David Hay.
Roland Leathers.
Dr Aida Rodríguez.
Posters Session.
TREATMENT OF CHRONIC LIVER FAILURE BY USING STEM CELLS TRANSPLANTATION.
Figures
Figure 1: Delegates from the meeting.
Figure 2: Delegates at the meeting.
Figure 3: Dr Lyn Healy (The Chair) and feedback prize winner Dr Aida Rodriguez.
Figure 4: Speakers from the meeting.
Figure 5: Poster prize winner Dr M Shagidulin and Dr Lyn Healy.
