再生医療とDDS

再生医学と霊長類ES細胞

抄録

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell lines have been established from the inner cell mass cells of the blastocysts. ES cells can be maintained in vitro in the undifferentiated state for practically indefinite periods. ES cells can differentiate into various types of cells in vitro and in vivo. Thus, they have been used as good models for cell differentiation during the embryogenesis. Recently, ES cell lines were established from a few species of the primates including the human. Primate ES cells have potency to differentiate into multiple types of somatic cells. This indicates a possibility to use human ES cells as a source for tissue transplantation, and they are expected to solve the current problems of the transplantation therapy such as shortage of the donors. Non-human primate ES cells are valuable in pre-clinical research of the transplantation therapy. We describe an overview of the human ES cells including historical backgrounds of the mouse ES cells. Ethical issues involved in the establishment and clinical use of human ES cells are also discussed.