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Address correspondence to: Seiko Tatehara, DDS, PhD, Department of Oral Medicine and Stomatology, School of Dental Medicine, Tsurumi University, 2-1-3 Tsurumi, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-8501, Japan, E-mail: [email protected]
Introduction
Recently, cell-based therapy has played an important role in regenerating defective tissues, recovering damaged organs, and treating refractory diseases.1-3 However, the cell source is the main factor that determines the successful outcome of cell-based therapies. Many studies have investigated the utility of cells derived from various tissues or organs. Among the possible cell sources, stem cells comprise embryonic stem (ES) cells, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, and adult stem (AS) cells, which can be isolated from various tissues and organs.4-6 ES cells and iPS cells are expected to be useful for regenerating tissues and organs because of their pluripotency. However, certain issues must be addressed before the clinical application of these cells. In particular, ES cells are associated with ethical issues regarding the use of early human embryos, whereas iPS cells are linked with possible tumorigenicity, and controlling their application is difficult. By contrast, AS cells, particularly mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from bone marrow (BMSCs) and adipose tissues (AMSCs), have already been applied clinically, with excellent outcomes,7-9 that is, in bone reconstruction and for treating acute graft versus host disease, liver cirrhosis, and ischemic cardiomyopathy.10-14 However, AS cells have several associated concerns, such as donor site morbidities, as well as declines in the differentiation potential and cell growth capacity associated with the donor's age.
Gronthos et al. showed that MSCs may...