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Stem Cell Plasticity

Plasticity refers to the capacity of stem cells to exhibit a phenotypic potential that extends beyond the differentiated cell phenotypes of their resident tissue, that is, their ability to turn into tissues other than the one from which they are derived. Researchers around the world are recognizing the plasticity of stem cells and are formulating new ways to control and direct them into different types of cells and tissues using external stimuli and cell markers to identify these cells at different stages of divisions. These cells are used to repair damaged and injured tissues and organs, to further cancer research, and to play a possible role in gene therapy.

Stem cells are a class of biological cells that are found in all multicellular organisms. They are undifferentiated, meaning that they do not have a specific function but that they have the potential to differentiate into other specialized cells and to self-regenerate. A totipotent stem cell (e.g., a fertilized egg) can develop into all cell types including the embryonic membranes. A pluripotent stem cell can develop into cells from all three germinal layers (e.g., cells from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst). Other cells can be oligopotent, bipotent, or unipotent depending on their ability to develop into just a few types of cells, just two types of cells, or just one type of cell. Stem cells are characterized by their ability to undergo symmetric cell division, resulting in one undifferentiated daughter cell and one committed daughter cell. The undifferentiated daughter cell can maintain a population of stem cells by continual self-regeneration.

Adult Stem Cells and Plasticity

Stem cells generally fall into one of three categories: totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent. Totipotent stem cells are defined by their ability to differentiate into every cell type in a living being (including placenta, germ cells, and yolk sac), and because of this ability, only the fertilized ovum and the first few cleavage stage divisions of the zygote comprises this category. Pluripotent stem cells are capable of differentiation into multiple tissues of different embryonic origin (i.e., endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm-derived tissues) and include such cells as the epiblast cells of the blastocyst, or the embryonic stem cells. Multipotent stem cells are stem cells that are capable of differentiation into specialized cells of a particular organ or system. Nearly all of adult stem cell populations are multipotent.

Research on Stem Cell Plasticity

Research on the topic of cell plasticity is often controversial because to study embryonic cell plasticity, scientists must generate embryonic cells, with donated eggs frequently being fertilized in the lab for this purpose. Not only do people who believe that life begins at conception have doubts about the morality of this procedure, there are ethical questions surrounding the issue of experimenting with human genes.

There may, however, be alternatives to the use of embryonic cells. Certain adult stem cells appear to be more flexible than previously thought, and these adult stem cells can move from one tissue to another via the circulation and are more plastic in earlier forms than in more differentiating stages. In particular, hematopoietic and neural stem cells appear to be the most versatile at cutting across lineage boundaries.

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