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PubMed · 12690288

Stem-cell "plasticity": befuddled by the muddle.

Margaret A Goodell
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Abstract

In the past 4 years, multiple reports have suggested that stem cells derived from adult tissues can differentiate outside their tissue of origin, challenging long-accepted tenets of developmental biology. This concept of stem-cell "plasticity" has helped to galvanize research on stem cells due to the myriad therapeutic possibilities. However, there are wide discrepancies in the reported frequencies of so-called transdifferentiation events, from recent reports of negative data to reports of the contribution in some tissues and systems reaching as much as 20%. The evidence for and against stem-cell plasticity is reviewed here as well as some of the possible sources of the experimental variation.

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AnimalsCell DifferentiationCell LineageHumansStem CellsJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tReview

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Margaret A Goodell. 2003. Stem-cell "plasticity": befuddled by the muddle.. https://doi.org/10.1097/00062752-200305000-00003

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