Other Organ Systems and the Future The use of stem cells in regenerative medicine has been studied for many other organ systems and cell types, including skin, eye, cartilage, bone, kidney, lung, endometrium, vascular endothelium, smooth muscle, striated muscle, and others. In fact, the potential for stem cell regeneration of damaged organs and tissues is virtually limitless. However, numerous obstacles must be overcome before stem cell therapies can become a widespread clinical reality. Only HSCs have been adequately characterized by surface markers to allow unambiguous identification, a prerequisite for reliable clinical applications. The pathways for differentiating stem cells into. | Chapter 067. Applications of Stem Cell Biology in Clinical Medicine Part 4 Other Organ Systems and the Future The use of stem cells in regenerative medicine has been studied for many other organ systems and cell types including skin eye cartilage bone kidney lung endometrium vascular endothelium smooth muscle striated muscle and others. In fact the potential for stem cell regeneration of damaged organs and tissues is virtually limitless. However numerous obstacles must be overcome before stem cell therapies can become a widespread clinical reality. Only HSCs have been adequately characterized by surface markers to allow unambiguous identification a prerequisite for reliable clinical applications. The pathways for differentiating stem cells into specific cellular phenotypes are still unknown the migration of transplanted cells is uncontrolled and the response of the cells to the environment of diseased organs is unpredictable. Future strategies may employ the coadministration of scaffolding artificial extracellular matrix and or growth factors to orchestrate differentiation of stem cells and their organization into appropriate constituents of the organ. Imaging techniques are needed to visualize stem cells in vivo after transplantation into humans. Fortunately stem cells can be engineered before transplantation to contain contrast agents that may make this feasible. The potential for tumor formation and the problems associated with immune rejection are significant impediments. Many strategies for cell replacement already include vasoactive endothelial growth factor VEGF coadministration to foster vascularization which is required for survival and function of the transplant. Some stem cells have been engineered to have an inducible suicide gene so that the cells can be eradicated in the event of tumor formation or some other complication. The potential for stem cell therapies to revolutionize medical care is extraordinary and disorders such as myocardial infarction .
