SUBJECT

Title

Experimental stem cell biology

Type of instruction

lecture

Level

master

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Part of degree program

Biology MSc

Credits

Recommended in

Semesters 1-4

Typically offered in

Autumn/Spring semester

Course description

1. What is a stem cell? - definitions. Major steps in cell fate determination. General techniques used to identify stem cells. Overview on general stem cell markers (SSEA-1, Nanog, Oct4, nestin).

2. Stem cell therapy: basic rules, definitions, theories and draws. Transdifferentiation: fact or artefact?

3. Clinical aspects of stem cell therapy: present and future possibilities. Ethical issues.

4. Major signal transduction pathways during cellular differentiation (Wnt, TGF/BMP, shh, Notch-Delta).

5. Origin of extraembryonic tissues. Embryonal stem (ES) cells, their differentiation. Formation of ecto-, meso- and endoderm. Fate maps and practical approaches.

6. Differentiation of the surface ectoderm: specialisation and separation of individual cell types during embryonal development and in adult ages. Distribution, localisation and differentiation of stem cells in the adult skin. Regeneration, renewal and replacement of human skin - clinical approaches.

7. Cell differentiation in the nervous system I. Comparison of embryonal and adult neural stem cells in the central nervous system. The importance of tissue environment in differentiation. Cell fate determination and major cell lineages. Radial glial cells as stem cells?

8. Regeneration and cell replacement in the central nervous system: aims, hopes and limits in Parkinson or Alzheimer disease, ALS or in patients with injured spinal cord.

9. Cell differentiation in the nervous system II. Formation of neural crest and peripheral nervous system. External factors directing the development, migration or differentiation of certain cell types. Replacement of receptor cells.

10. Stem cells of the endoderm: origin, identity, localisation and differentiation of stem cells in the pancreas, guts or in the liver. Stem cell replacement, isolation and transplantation.

11. Stem cells in embryonal and adult muscle. Factors regulating differentiation to smooth, sceletal or to heart muscle. Cell replacement and regeneration after injury.

12. Stem cells in bone and cartilage formation during embryonal and adult ages. Artificial bone and cartilage formation, clinical approaches, therapy.

13. Stem cells in the gonads: localisation and regulation. The importance of cellular microenvironment (niche) in differentiation or in the maintanence of the undifferentiated state. Gender-specific characteristics. Teratocarcinomas.

14. Development of the circulatory system: formation of blood vessels and differentiation of blood cells. Identification and characterisation of hematopoietic stem cells. Embryonal and adult hematopoiesis, transplantation.1. What is a stem cell? - definitions. Major steps in cell fate determination. General techniques used to identify stem cells. Overview on general stem cell markers (SSEA-1, Nanog, Oct4, nestin).