History and the Present
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Hemopoietic stem cells were discovered in 1908 by an outstanding Russian scientist of Army Medical College A. Maksimov. Since the middle of the last century, scientists have started making attempts of using hemopoietic stem cells in treatment of malignant diseases of blood, congenital immunodeficiency disorders, anaemias with significant efficiency.
But the difficulty of choice of compatible bone marrow donor made researches to look for alternative sources of hemopoietic stem cells. Umbilical blood appeared similar to bone marrow in content and properties. That was confirmed by umbilical blood transplantation, which had saved a mouse, irradiated by a mortal dose of radiation.
The epoch of umbilical blood usage was started in 1988 by a professor of the Parisian university Elian Glukman, who performed the first in the world successful transplantation of umbilical blood to the child with Fanconi’sanaemia.The patient is till now, already for more than 20 years in a complete hematological and immunological remission.
Since 1988, umbilical cord blood has been widely implemented in clinical practice as an alternative to bone marrow transplant of hemoietic stem cells for treatment of hematological and other diseases. Today according to the data of World Marrow Donor Association, umbilical cord blood is used as a source of hemopoietic cells in each fifth case in the world. And in some countries, for instance, in Singapore, umbilical cord blood is used in every second-third case. In 2009 in USA, the number of umbilical blood transplantations has overcome the number of bone marrow transplantations for the first time.
Increasing a part of umbilical blood transplantations
Biotechnology achievements on the stem cells basis
|
Year |
Achievement |
University/hospital |
|
1997 |
The auricle was grown |
Harvard university, USA |
|
2000-2004 |
Transplantations of arteries grown from personal stem cells were performed to 42 children with congenital malformations of great vessels of the thoracic cavity |
Tokyowomens’ medicaluniversity |
|
2004 |
Capillary blood vessels were grown in a laboratory |
The university of Kioto, Japan |
|
2005 |
Brain neurons were obtained during the experiment |
The Florida university, USA The Edinburghuniversity, Great Britain The Milan university, Italy |
|
2006 |
Valves of human heart were grown in a laboratory |
The Zürich university, Switzerland |
|
2006 |
The liver tissue was grown in a laboratory |
The Newcastle university, Great Britain |
|
2006 |
The urinary bladder was grown |
The institute of regenerative medicine, USA |
|
2006 |
Alveocytes of the type II were grown |
BioE Inc. and the Minnesota university, USA |
|
2006 |
The cornea was grown in a laboratory |
TheMelbourrneuniversity, Australia
|
|
2007 |
The cornea was grown in a laboratory |
The Tokyouniversity, Japan |
|
2007 |
Spermatozoons were obtained in an experiment |
The Newcastle university, Great Britain |
|
2007 |
Pulsingheartcellswereobtained |
Gusak reseach institute of urgent and regenerative surgery, Donetsk, Ukraine |
|
2008 |
Thrombocytes were obtained in an experiment |
The Tokyouniversity, Japan |
|
2008 |
A new heart was grown in the experiment on the basis of a connective-tissue carcass of the old one |
the Minnesota university, USA |
|
2008 |
A trachea was grown from patient’s stem cells and transplanted into the patient |
TheBristoluniversityGreatBritain |
|
2008 |
The upper jaw was grown |
TheTampereuniversity, Finland |
|
2008 |
Erythrocytesweregrowninlaboratory |
Thecompany «AdvancedCellTechnology», theuniversityofIllinois, thelaboratoryofenzymesstudy, thecentre ofscientificresourcesinIllinois, departmentofsurgeryandimmunologyofMayoclinic, USA |
Today, the methods of myeloablation with further transplantation of hemopoietic stem cells are applied more and more often in treatment of autoimmune diseases, particularly in the severe form of scleroderma, reumathoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease. Cells technologies based on the stem cell regenerative potential in treatment of diabetes, infantile cerebral paralysis, cardiovascular diseases are studied wider and wider. Also mesenchymal cells are considered as prospective cell raw material for tissue engineering of organs.
During more then 20-year history of active research and clinical use, cord blood was named a «liquid gold» of medicine and the biggest history of success in the cell technology area.
Today, stem cells are used in treatment of more then 100 diseases, including the most dangerous, among which are:
Acute and chronic leukaemia
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
Acute myeloblastic leukaemia
Acute bifenotypic leukaemia
Acute undifferentiated leukaemia
Chronic myeloid leukaemia
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
Juvenile chronic myeloid leukaemia
Juvenile chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia
Myelodysplastic syndromes
Refractory anaemia
Refractory anaemia with ring-shaped sideroblasts
Refractory anaemia with blast excess
Refractory anaemia with blast excess at the stage of transformation
Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia
Diseases of stem cell pathology
Severe form of aplastic anaemia
Fanconi anaemia
Paroxismal night hemoglobinuria (Marchiafava- Micheli‘s disease)
Partial red cell aplasia
The diseases of myeloid proliferation pathology
Acute myelofibrosis
Idiopathic myelofibrosis
Polycytemia rubra vera
Essential thrombocytemia
Lymfoproliferative disorders
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Hodgkin lymphoma/lymphogranulomatosis
Fagocyte disfunction
Chediak-Higashi disease
Chronic granulomatous disease
Reticular dysgenesia
Congenetal metabolism disorders
Mucopolysacharidosis
Garler’s disease
Shin’s disease
Gunter’s disease
Sanfilippo’s disease
Morgui disease
Marutsi-Laim’s disease
Sly syndrome, disorders of beta-glucuronidase
Adrenoleukodystrophy
Mucolipidosis
Crabbe’s disease
Goshe disease
Niemann-Pick disease
Wolman disease
Metachromatic leukodystrophy
Hystiocytic dysfunction
Family erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis
Hystiocytosis X
Hemophagocytosis
Hereditary erythrocyte disorders
Severe beta-thalassemia
Sickle-cell disease
Hereditary immune system disorders
Ataxia-teleangioectasia
Leukocyte adhesion disease
Di-Dgeorgi disease
Omenn’s disease
Naked leukocyte syndrome
Viskott-Oldrich disease
Severe mixed immunodeficiencies associated with adenosine-deaminase deficit,
Absence of T- and B-lymphocytes;
Absence of T-lymphocytes in normal level of B-lymphocytes;
Lymphoproliferative disorders, associated with X-chromosome
Other inherited disorders
Lesh-Nyhan disease
Hypoplasia of hear and cartilages
Glanzmann thrombasthenia
Osteopetrosis
Inherited thrombocyte pathology
Amegacaryocytosis/ Inherited throbocytemia
Plasmatic cell pathology
Multiple myeloma
Plasma cell leukemia
Valdenstrem macroglobulinemia
Other oncologic diseases
Cancer of a mammary gland
Ewing’s sarcoma
Neuroblastoma
Cancer of a kidney (Wilm’s tumor, hypernephroma)