Adult Stem Cells for Tissue Repair — A New Therapeutic Concept?

Martin Körbling, M.D., and Zeev Estrov, M.D.N Engl J Med 2003; 349:570-582August 7, 2003

This article has no abstract; the first 100 words appear below.

Adult human stem cells that are intrinsic to various tissues have been described and characterized, some of them only recently. These cells are capable of maintaining, generating, and replacing terminally differentiated cells within their own specific tissue as a consequence of physiologic cell turnover or tissue damage due to injury.¹Hematopoietic stem cells that give rise to blood cells and move between bone marrow and peripheral blood are the best-characterized adult stem cells in humans. Recent data suggest that adult stem cells generate differentiated cells beyond their own tissue boundaries, a process termed “developmental plasticity.” In this review we focus . . .

SOURCE INFORMATION

From the Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (M.K.) and the Department of Bioimmunotherapy (Z.E.), the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Körbling at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Unit 423, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, or at mkorblin@mdanderson.org.

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