Over recent years stem cells have stood out as a promising tool for regenerative medicine, providing alternative therapeutic solutions for a large number of diseases. Many clinical trials using stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells are focused on the repair and regeneration of various tissues and organs in degenerative diseases, whose current treatment only succeeds in slowing down the progression of the disease. | Turkish Journal of Biology Turk J Biol (2016) 40: 955-967 © TÜBİTAK doi: Review Article Current status of stem cell therapy: opportunities and limitations 1 1,2,3, 1,3, 1, Elena RUSU * , Laura Georgiana NECULA *, Ana Iulia NEAGU *, Mihail ALECU *, 1, 1,2,4, 1,2, , Cristian STAN *, Radu ALBULESCU *, Cristiana Pistol TANASE * ** 1 Faculty of Medicine, Titu Maiorescu University, Bucharest, Romania 2 Department of Biochemistry-Proteomics, Victor Babes National Institute of Pathology, Bucharest, Romania 3 Department of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Stefan S. Nicolau Institute of Virology, Bucharest, Romania 4 National Institute for Chemical Pharmaceutical R&D, Bucharest, Romania Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: Over recent years stem cells have stood out as a promising tool for regenerative medicine, providing alternative therapeutic solutions for a large number of diseases. Many clinical trials using stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells are focused on the repair and regeneration of various tissues and organs in degenerative diseases, whose current treatment only succeeds in slowing down the progression of the disease. Although the preliminary results are interesting, further studies are required in order to evaluate the safety and benefits of stem cell therapy, considering the teratoma development and ethical considerations in embryonic stem cell cases or reprogramming-induced somatic mutations and epigenetic defects. This review summarizes several current clinical and nonclinical data on the use of embryonic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells in various diseases. Key words: Regenerative medicine, stem cells, cell reprogramming 1. Introduction Current treatments for many degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer and Parkinson disease, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and .
