Mesenchymal: Current Research on Isolation or Production of Therapeutic Cells

The term mesenchyme is adopted from the Greek for central and immersion, and refers to the ability of the mesenchymatous cells to move and grow in between the endoderm and ectoderm layers in the early embryonic development.

Bone, connective tissue, and all circulatory cells derive from this mesoderm layer. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the multipotent stromal stem cells that have the extraordinary self-renewal capacity and can give rise to many cell types including fat, cartilage, and the bone cells (adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteoblasts). Moreover, some scientists were successfully able to differentiate MSCs into endothelial cells, liver cells, heart muscle cells, and nerve cells. Differentiation is when a parent cell divides and gives rise to the cell that has a different structure, function, and characteristics than ...