ABSTRACT
Stem cells have the unique ability to self-renew and differentiate into cells of several lineages. There are two major types of stem cells: embryonic stem cell (ESCs) and adult (Gilbert 2010). ESCs have the potential to differentiate into tissues of all three germ layers (Thomson et al. 1998, Tanabe et al. 2014) and are thus termed totipotent. iPSCs are very similar to ESCs in their properties and can form most cell types. They are therefore categorized as pluripotent. Multipotent adult stem cells, which are present in
mature tissues, can only generate a subset of cell types compared to ESCs and iPSCs, but are known to actively participate in tissue repair processes (Gilbert 2010). Progenitor cells are similar to stem cells, but have the capacity to undergo only a few cycles of self-renewal, and demonstrate lineage commitment to even fewer cell types than do adult stem cells (Gilbert 2010).
