Developmental potential of somatic stem cells in mammalian adults

Traditionally, somatic tissue-derived stem cells of mammalian adults have been viewed as pluripotent precursors capable of lifelong maintenance of cellular compartments typical of the tissue in which they reside. However in recent years, in vitro cultures and in vivo transplantation assays have indicated that adult somatic stem cell of various species are capable of adopting multiple fates. Bone marrow cells can give rise to a wide array of phenotypes, including blood, endothelial, bone, cartilage, fat, tendon, lung, liver, muscle, marrow stroma, and even brain cells. Conversely, neural stem cells as well as progenitors present in the muscle may contribute to blood cell production, indicating that adult stem cells present in numerous tissues may generate multiple cell types even of different dermal origin. Therefore, the developmental potential of adult somatic stem cells might be reassessed, although the mechanisms that ultimately lead to determination of cell fate are not completely defined. The successful long-term culturing and expansion of somatic adult stem cells together with their intrinsic versatility leads to future hope of stem cell therapeutic use in a wide spectrum of diseases and disorders of several, even not easily accessible, tissues.