Embroyonic stem cells

BACKGROUND: Liver failure is a life-threatening liver disease encompassing severe acute deterioration of liver function. Emergency liver transplantation is the only curative treatment for liver failure, but is restricted by the severe shortage of organ donors. Stem cell, including embroyonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells and hepatic progenitor cells, have capacity to proliferate and differentiate and could be used in a variety of liver diseases including hereditary liver diseases, cirrhosis and liver failure...

Stem cells have their origins in the embryo and during the process of organogenesis, these differentiate into specialized cells which mature to form tissues. In addition, stem cell are characterized by an ability to indefinitely self renew. Stem cells are broadly classified into embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Adult stem cells can be genetically reprogrammed to form pluripotent stem cells and exist in an embroyonic like state. In the early phase of embryogenesis, human embryonic stem cells only exist transiently...