Book Description:
Stem cells are primal cells common to all multi-cellular organisms that retain the ability to renew themselves through cell division and can differentiate into a wide range of specialised cell types.

The two broad categories of mammalian stem cells exist: embryonic stem cells, derived from blastocysts, and adult stem cells, which are found in adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells are able to differentiate into all of the specialised embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialised cells.

As stem cells can be readily grown and transformed into specialised tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture, their use in medical therapies has been proposed. In particular, embryonic cell lines, autologous embryonic stem cells generated therapeutic cloning, and highly plastic adult stem cells from the umbilical cord blood or bone marrow are touted as promising candidates.

Among the many applications of stem cell research are nervous system diseases, diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune diseases as well as Parkinson’s disease, end-stage kidney disease, liver failure, cancer, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Stem cells are self-renewing, unspecialized cells that can give rise to multiple types all of specialized cells of the body. Stem cell research also involves complex ethical and legal considerations since they involve adult, fetal tissue and embryonic sources. This book presents new and important research in this field.

Table of Contents:
Preface

Expert Commentary A
Current Problems in Stem Cell Therapy: Are we ready for Human Transplantation?
(Fernando Cobo, Stem Cell Bank of Andalucia, Univ. Hospital Virgen De Las Nieves, Granada, Spain)

Chapter I.- Stem Cells, Progenitor Cells and Vascular Diseases;
pp. 5-63
(Qingzhong Xiao, Cardiovascular Division, King's College London, Univ. of London, London, UK, Marjan Jahangiri, Dept. of Cardiac Surgery, St. George's Univ. of London, UK, Qingbo Xu, Cardiovascular Division, King's College London, Univ. of London, London, UK)

Chapter II.- GATA Transcription Factors and T Cell Development from Hematopoietic Stem Cells; pp. 65-106
(Kam-Wing Ling, Jan Piet van Hamburg, Rudi W. Hendriks, Dept. of Immunology, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

Chapter III.- Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Shp-2 in Cytokine Signalings and Stem Cell Regulations; pp. 107-134
(Gang-Ming Zou, Dept. of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD)

Chapter IV.- Stem Cells for Neural Tissue Engineering; pp. 135-160
(Sherri S. Schultz, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York)

Chapter V.- Fibrocytes, Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Monocytes: Who is who in Circulating Stem Cells?; pp. 161-186
(Pablo Gomez-Ochoa, Dept. of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty Univ. of Zaragoza, Spain)

Chapter VI.- Neural Stem Cell Niche-dependency: A Theoretical Model of spatially restricted responses to the activation of multiple Receptors; pp. 187-201
(Lia Scotti Campos, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK)

Chapter VII.- Potential Application of Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Wharton's Jelly for the treatment of Parkinsonism; pp. 203-227
(Yu-Show Fu, Dept. of Anatomy, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming Univ., Taipei, Taiwan, Yun-Chih Cheng, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming Univ., Taipei, Taiwan)

Chapter VIII.- Human Oogenesis and Follicular Renewal frmo Ovarian Somatic Stem Cells; pp. 229-272
(Antonin Bukovsky, Laboratory of Development, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Univ. of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville, Tennessee)

Chapter IX.- Gastric Stem Cells; pp. 273-293
(Yoshikiyo Akasaka, Toshiharu Ishii, Dept. of Pathology, School of Medicine, Toho Univ., Tokyo, Japan)

Index