胚胎干细胞器官克隆进展

Progress in embryonic stem cell-based organ cloning

胚胎干细胞作为多能干细胞在组织再生和功能重建中发挥重要作用。利用胚胎干细胞诱导分化为特定的治疗细胞后进行细胞替代治疗,已在包括神经、心血管和内分泌等多个系统中取得了确切的效果。但同时,胚胎干细胞来源的细胞和组织移植宿主体内存在安全性问题,包括成瘤性、细胞异常分布以及免疫排斥性等。基于胚胎干细胞的器官克隆技术虽然较单纯细胞诱导复杂和困难,但是体外三维培养诱导得到的胚胎干细胞来源器官,如视杯、甲状腺、垂体和小肠等器官与体内发育来源的器官在形态及功能上具有很大的相似性,可能是未来再生医学中器官移植的重要发展方向。

Embryonic stem cells, as an important type ofpluripotent stem cells, have significant impact on treatment of degenerative diseases. Derivatives of embryonic stem cells have already been applied to multiple systems as cell replacement therapy, such as the nervous, cardiovascular and endocrine systems. At the same time, derivatives of embryonic stem cells can also cause several safety issues, including inappropriate cell biodistribution, tumorigenicity and immunogenicity. On the other hand, embryonic stem cell-derived organs and tissues have high similarities with those developing from embryo, which may show the directions for the future regenerative medicine, although the techniques for three-dimensional culture remain much more complicated than traditional ways.