Stem cells and organoids

Question 1

stem cells

Answer 1

undifferentiated, can differentiate into specialized cells, self-renew (divide indefinetely while remaining in an undifferentiated stage)

Question 2

embryonic stem cells

Answer 2

from blastocyst, self-renewal, differentiation signals: endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm

Question 3

adult/somatic stem cells

Answer 3

self-renewal, differentiation signals: cell types restricted to organ source (tissue renewal, repair, tissue-specific)

Question 4

induced pluripotent stem cells

Answer 4

virus carries reprogramming factors into somatic cell’s nucleus -> pluripotent iPSC line

Question 5

potency

Answer 5

potential to differentiate into more specialized cells

Question 6

totipotent

Answer 6

differentiate into all of the cells of an organism, including development components (e..g. placenta)

Question 7

pluripotent

Answer 7

differentiate into all cells in an organism, from all 3 germ layers

Question 8

multipotent

Answer 8

differentiate into multiple mature cells, related groups of cells (e.g. skin, blood, brain..)

Question 9

oligopotent

Answer 9

potential to differentiate into small number of cell types

Question 10

unipotent

Answer 10

differentiated cell types

Question 11

what is therapeutic cloning?

Answer 11

aims to produce cells for therapeutic use (implants)

Question 12

SCNT

Answer 12

somatic cell nuclear transfer: adult somatic cell into enucleated egg -> blastula ->embryonic stem cells

Question 13

advantages of therapeutic cloning

Answer 13

• indistinguishable from embryo-derived cells

- suitable for treatment of mitochondrial disease

Question 14

disadvantages of therapeutic cloning

Answer 14

• involves ex-vivo-creation of embryos, ethical problems with deconstruction of an embryo
• can be misused for reproductive cloning
• need for large quantities of human oocytes

Question 15

transdifferentiation

Answer 15

lineage programming: expression of lineage-specific factors (differenciated cells pushed towards lineage of interest)

Question 16

direct reprogramming

Answer 16

short-term cellular conversion toward the pluripotent stage, directing toward specific lineage

Question 17

for what can organoids be used?

Answer 17

disease modeling, drug screening, cell therapy, study development (e.g. brain)

Question 18

how are organoids obtained=

Answer 18

patient hepatocytes/fibroblasts etc. are induced to pluripotency, then differentiated

Question 19

give examples of therapeutical applications of stem cells

Answer 19

• hematopoeietic stem cell transplant can develop into different types of blood cells to cure patients with blood disorders/cancers (instead of bone marrow)
• skin transplants
• bioengineered tooth
• beta cells from iPSCs