Adult stem cells - (Jan/27/2014 )
Hi everybody,
I have a problem of concepts. I have been reading to understand the kind of cells that are nowadays being used in tissue engineering and when I try to break down Adult Stem Cells (ASCs) I get lose. Can anyone help me?
I understand that ASCs can be obtained from different sources (bone marrow, adipose tissue, endothelial tissue...). My misunderstanding arrives when I read about Mesenchymal stem cells. Are them a type of ASC? But they can also be obtained from different sources, aren't them?
Well probably trying to partition this is not possible, but I want to be sure not to have basic misconception.
Thanks you very much in advance for all the help you can give me
CRIS
Hi There
Wikipedia has a good article on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesenchymal_stem_cell Words in biology are sometimes used by different people to have different meanings.
Mesenchymal stem cells are type of ASC, but can also be found in infants and children. You may be finding contradicting information out there as stem cell research in rapidly developing. New finding are published daily--some groups/people may have read/accept/believe/not accept/not believe them.
To add to the confusion, cells can also be "de-differentiated" to form more primitive multipotent stem cells. So if you are wondering if there is more than one way to get Mesenchymal stem cells from adult stem cells, the answer is a resounding yes! You can probably even move back and forth between the two.
If you are taking a specific class from a specific person, then whatever they say is right.
Good luck.
Mesenchymal stem cells are type of ASC. You can visit Stem Cell to grab a good concept of different kinds of stem cells. 
Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent adult stem cells that are present in multiple tissues, including umbilical cord, bone marrow and fat tissue. Mesenchymal stem cells can self-renew by dividing and can differentiate into multiple tissues including bone, cartilage, muscle and fat cells, and connective tissue.