Stem cells are multifaceted and versatile cells which can perform regenerative functions in plenty inside the human body. These can generate or even replace a variety of cells which takes place through differentiation. They can well regulate the immune system along with stimulating other cells carefully in their organic environment.
Stem cells are present inside all from the embryo/fetus development which is called the embryonic stem cells and throughout any individual for his whole lifespan till death this is known as Adult Stem Cells. The 5 general type of stem cells present in the human body are:
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- Totipotent: The stem cells are also known as fertilized egg, this type of stem cell develops and becomes all the other cells, which helps creating a human being.
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- Pluripotent: These stem cells can be well-differentiated into any other cell kind, however, the stem cells definitely lack the capacity to create and bring to life an entire organism, this is what makes it different than a totipotent cell.
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- Multipotent: These are a bit more limited than the pluripotent cells defined above. These are assigned to cell types of a certain range.
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- Oligopotent: These are similar to that of multipotent stem cells and are the ones which are also able to well differentiate into cell types of specific range.
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- Unipotent: As the name suggests they can work only well with one cell type and not multiple.
Embryonic stem cells (ESC) and adult stem cells (ASC) are the two categories of stem cells which have different and varied properties. As soon as a baby is born the process of cell replacement and regeneration occurs, this happens in two contexts: renewal or revival of the naturally dying cells which is known as apoptosis and the second occurs in response to an external injury which may be caused by a series of factors inclusive of traumatic injury, cancer, infarction, toxins, inflammation, etc. The adult stem cells known as the somatic stem cells are the ones which are involved in the regeneration process.
Adult Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells
Blastocyst is the place where embryonic stem cells are present. It is present in the inner mass of the hollow ball of cells. This hollow mass is created in human body, three to five days post fertility of the egg cell by a sperm. Generally, the cells which are present inside the inner cell mass is the point of creation of specialized cells which are present in the entire body and all the tissues and organs. Embryonic stem cells give rise to every cell type in an adult body which makes them ideal participant to be called pluripotent. The embryonic stem cell excludes placenta and umbilical cord.
The Adult Stem Cells which are also called the somatic stem cells are a specialized version of the embryonic stem cells. These are great at regeneration, and can carefully give rise to various different cell types for the specific and more focused group of tissue and organ in which they dwell. There are different types of adult stem cells which are present and hold a specific function of regeneration. For instance, blood-forming stem cells can be the reason for rise of the red blood cells, white blood cells and also platelets. However, these don’t form the liver or lung cells, and stem cells. Some tissues and organs reside within the body and contain small quantities of tissue-specific stem cells, the job of these stem cells is to replace the cells from that of the tissue are lost during the normal living or in case of injury of any kind.