Excerpted from the 2010 lecture by Professor Tse Hung-fat, William MW Mong Professor in Cardiology and Chair professor of Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Sham Mai-har, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry, "New Therapeutic Strategy - Stem Cell Therapy"
Explore the World of Medicine Vol I, March 2010
Professor Tse Hung-fat hftse@hku.hk and Professor Sham Mai-har mhsham@cuhk.edu.hk
Qualifications ｜
Professor TSE Hung Fat, Chair Professor of Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
Honorary Consultant in Cardiology
Cardiologist
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong
Doctor of Medicine, University of Hong Kong
PhD, University of Hong Kong
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Fellow of the American College of Cardiology
Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (Medicine)
Queen Mary Hospital
The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital
Gleneagles Hong Kong Hospital
Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital
Qualifications ｜
Professor Sham Mai-har, Head, Department of Biochemistry, The University of Hong Kong
Associate Professor / Senior Lecturer, Department of Biochemistry, The University of Hong Kong
2001-2009, Assistant Dean (Research), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
PhD, University of Cambridge, U.K.
MPhil, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, H.K.
BSc, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, H.K.
2020-present, President, Hong Kong Society of Developmental Biology
2019-present, Member, World Conference on Research Integrity Foundation
2021-present, Editorial Board Member, Cell and Bioscience
2019-2023, Editorial Committee Member, Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics
2012-2013, Guest Editor, Developmental Biology, Special Issue on Enteric Nervous System Development
2010-present, Review Editor, Frontiers of Autonomic Neuroscience
2008-2010. Academic Editor, PLoS ONE
Currently, the scientists is working hard to study the transformation of the powerful regenerative abilities of stem cells, which will be of great help in the development of treatments for various diseases.
The capability of stem cells
Generally, cells in an adult's body can only regenerate and divide to a limited extent, but stem cells can regenerate themselves for a long time and divide into new stem cells. In addition, stem cells are not specialised. Their morphology and growth pattern have no specific pattern, and they can produce a variety of specialized cells through differentiation.
Stem cells can be divided into two categories: pluripotent and multiplastic. The former includes embryonic cells, embryonic primordial germ cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, while the latter includes epithelial stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells and neural stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells are reproductive cells that can develop into new independent individuals. Pluripotent stem cells can develop into a variety of specific somatic cells such as skin, corneal, blood cells, etc., and can produce replacements to repair damaged tissues and organs.
Cultured stem cells
Stem cells extracted from embryos or human bodies can develop into desired tissues or organs through appropriate artificial cultivation for the purpose of treating diseases. However, the method of cultivating stem cells is not simple. Not only do special factors need to be added during the process, but the stem cells must also coexist with other cells. During cultivation, it is necessary to maintain the differentiation potential of stem cells and also to master the method of stem cell differentiation. Using stem cells to cultivate nerve cells or glial cells to treat neurodegenerative diseases has become a popular treatment in recent years.
Stem cell morphology under the microscope
Treating neurodegenerative diseases requires the use of neural stem cells, which can be obtained from the brains of embryos or adults. In addition to extracting stem cells from specific tissues or organs to treat related diseases, scientists are also trying to find stem cells that are suitable for treating heart disease, which affects the most people. Therefore, in recent years, scientists have also tried to find stem cells that are suitable for treating a variety of diseases. "Mesenchymal stem cells" are one of them. This type of cell is isolated from human bones, umbilical cord, animal placenta, fat separation, pluripotent stem cells and is a pluripotent stem cell that can develop into most cells in the human body.
Stem cells have a very high plasticity. As long as the appropriate technology is used, whether the stem cells are obtained from the bone marrow, muscles or brain, they can theoretically be cultured into cells that are completely different from the original tissue.
Development of stem cell research
The applications of stem cell research are vast. For example, using stem cells to cultivate human organ cells. Helps test the efficacy of newly developed drugs. Using the patient's stem cells to grow diseased tissue will help us understand the disease and study treatment methods.
Regenerative medicine is an important development direction of stem cell research. Nowadays, many diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are popular treatments. There is no drug that can completely cure the disease, and stem cell therapy may be a new opportunity for treatment.
Treating heart disease with stem cells
Heart disease is the disease that affects the most people, so in recent years scientists have been actively studying the feasibility of using stem cell therapy to treat heart disease. There are currently more than 200 similar studies around the world.
Blockage of heart vessels can cause myocardial necrosis and thinning, impairing heart function and leading to heart failure. If the damage is severe, the heart's own stem cells are not enough to repair the damage. In the past, the medical community has tried to inject bone marrow stem cells into patients' hearts in the hope of repairing heart function. Although the condition improved, the stem cells did not differentiate into heart cells. This shows that the clinical application of stem cell therapy still faces many difficulties.
Since stem cells cannot repair the heart, scientists have turned to using stem cells to directly grow a heart. The researchers first removed the original cells in the mouse heart, then injected stem cells and waited for them to redifferentiate into heart cells. The current research focus is on how to make the new heart cells align and function properly.
Some heart diseases are caused by genetic problems, and even a new heart transplant may not be able to solve the problem. To treat such cases, it may be necessary to first use gene therapy to change the genes of stem cells, use the genetically altered cells to cultivate a heart, and then transplant it.
Replicating cells in research stage
The stem cells that are currently more commonly used in research and clinical practice are mainly taken from embryos, and similar stem cells can also be produced by chromosome transplantation in the laboratory.
This technology is used to clone animals. The method is to take eggs from the mother, remove the cell nucleus, then extract cell genes from the skin of another person, and inject them into the previous empty egg shell, allowing them to differentiate naturally. However, the success rate of this method is not high, and cell replication is still in the research stage and is still a long way from practical application.
Prospects of stem cell research
Stem cell-based therapies must ensure that the cells can survive in the human body after transplantation, integrate with surrounding tissues, and function safely and effectively. These are the areas that the medical community is currently committed to researching.
In addition to being able to cultivate different organs for transplantation, stem cell technology also allows patients to produce their own stem cells and test their responses to different drugs, thereby selecting the most suitable drug for the patient and improving the safety of treatment. In addition, comparing the stem cells of patients and normal people will also help to find out the cause of the disease, which will be of great help in the development of treatments for various diseases.
The field of stem cells has been developing explosively. You can learn more about it online to further improve your knowledge.
About Us
Through deep connections with the local agricultural industry, our company provides medical schools and biotechnology research with some useful raw materials and biological samples, and conducts systematic scientific research and academic research, including pluripotent stem cell research. To enable our large and advanced medical campus to conduct more dynamic scientific research, we will continue to provide support for local academic research and medical education, and use advanced technology to lead Hong Kong's medical research to a higher level.
About the Speaker
Professor Hung-Fat Tse is Chairperson of the Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong. He is also Chief of the Cardiology Division, Honorary Consultant and Chief of Service of the Department of Medicine at Queen Mary Hospital.
Professor Tse is an international expert in cardiac pacing and electrophysiology, and cardiovascular regenerative medicine. He has significantly contributed to the understanding of the mechanisms as well as development of novel therapies for treatment of heart rhythm disorder. In addition, Professor Tse is at the forefront of applying stem cells in cardiovascular regenerative medicine. His research center and basic laboratory together with the Sun Chieh Yeh Cardiovascular Research and Training Laboratory (for large animal research) are dedicated to the training and development of novel device and biological therapies for cardiovascular diseases. Prof. Tse has published over 520 original scientific reports in international scientific journals, including New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, Lancet, Cell Stem Cell, Circulation, Blood, Journal of American College of Cardiology, Archives of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Medicine, European Heart Journal and Stem Cell.
Professor Sham Mai-har is a developmental geneticist in Hong Kong who is committed to promoting medical research and nurturing talent. Over the years, she has led her team to focus on the molecular mechanisms of mammalian development and human congenital diseases, covering areas such as craniofacial development, gene regulation, and rare human diseases. In his laboratory, Professor Sum uses genetically modified mice, stem cells and organoids, as well as single-cell technology to conduct research, bringing groundbreaking progress and contributions to human medicine.
Currently the Vice-President (Research) and Professor of Choh-Ming Li Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Sham actively promotes scientific research and innovation in the field of teaching, leads research institutes and research centers, promotes interdisciplinary research, enhances translational research capabilities and strengthens industry collaboration, transforming research results for the benefit of the community🔬.
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