New discoveries in the field of stem cells increasingly dominate the news and scientific literature revealing an avalanche of new knowledge and research tools that are producing therapies for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and a wide variety of other diseases that afflict humanity. The Handbook of Stem Cells integrates this exciting area of life science, combining in two volumes the requisites for a general understanding of adult and embryonic stem cells. Organized in two volumes entitled Pluripotent Stem Cells & Cell Biology and Adult & Fetal Stem Cells, this work contains contributions from the worlds experts in stem cell research to provide a description of the tools, methods, and experimental protocols needed to study and characterize stem cells and progenitor populations as well as a the latest information of what is known about each specific organ system.

Table of Contents

• Dedication
• Foreword
• Preface
• Contributors of Volume 1
• Contributors of Volume 2
• Volume 1: Pluripotent Stem Cells
• Why Stem Cell Research? Advances in the Field
• “Stemness”: Definitions, Criteria, and Standards
• Pluripotential Stem Cells from Vertebrate Embryos: Present Perspective and Future Challenges
• Embryonic Stem Cells in Perspective
• The Molecular Circuitry Underlying Pluripotency in Embryonic Stem Cells and iPS Cells
• Molecular Organization of Cells
• Stem Cell Niches
• Mechanisms of Stem Cell Self-Renewal
• Cell Cycle Regulators in Stem Cells
• Cell Fusion and the Differentiated State
• How Cells Change Their Phenotype
• Somatic Cloning and Epigenetic Reprogramming in Mammals
• Engineered Proteins for Controlling Gene Expression
• Differentiation in Early Development
• Developmental Mechanisms of Regeneration
• Primordial Germ Cells in Mouse and Human
• Cell–ECM Interactions in Repair and Regeneration
• Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
• Feeder-Free and Defined Culture Conditions for hESC Growth
• Isolation and Maintenance of Murine Embryonic Stem Cells
• Isolation and Maintenance of Primate ES Cells
• Embryonic Stem Cells: Derivation and Properties
• Approaches for Derivation and Maintenance of Human ES Cells: Detailed Procedures and Alternatives
• Alternate Sources of Human Embryonic Stem Cells
• Genetic Approaches in Human Embryonic Stem Cells and their Derivatives: Prospects for Regenerative Medicine
• Genetic Manipulation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells
• Homologous Recombination in Human Embryonic Stem Cells
• Derivation and Differentiation of Human Embryonic Germ Cells
• Growth Factors and the Serum–Free Culture of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
• Feeder–Free Culture
• Surface Antigen Markers
• Lineage Marking
• Genomic Reprogramming
• Microarray Analysis of Stem Cells and Differentiation
• Potential of ES Cell Differentiation Culture for Vascular Biology
• Use of Embryonic Stem Cells to Treat Heart Disease
• Embryonic Stem Cells in Tissue Engineering
• Zebrafish and Stem Cell Research
• Volume 2: Adult and Fetal Stem Cells
• The Development of Epithelial Stem Cell Concepts
• Stem Cells Derived from Amniotic Fluid
• Update on “Stem and Progenitor Cells Isolated from Cord Blood”
• Stem Cells in Extraembryonic Lineages
• Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine
• Multipotent Adult Progenitor Cells
• Mesenchymal Stem Cells
• Stem Cells Derived from Fat–an Update
• Ontogeny of the Hematopoietic System
• Hematopoietic Stem Cells
• Cell Therapy for Blood Substitutes
• Peripheral Blood Stem Cells
• Human Vascular Progenitor Cells
• Stem Cells and the Regenerating Heart
• Cardiac Stem Cells- Biology and Therapeutic Applications
• Stem Cells and Heart Disease
• Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells
• Stem Cells for the Treatment of Muscular Dystrophy
• Myoblast Transplantation in Skeletal Muscles
• Neurogenesis in the Vertebrate Embryo
• The Nervous System
• Stem Cells in the Adult Brain
• Neural Stem Cells–Therapeutic Applications in Neurodegenerative Diseases
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Sensory Epithelium of the Eye and Ear
• Epithelial Skin Stem Cells
• Regeneration of Epidermis from Adult Human Keratinocyte Stem Cells
• Burns and Skin Ulcers
• Stem Cells in the Gastrointestinal Tract
• Pancreatic Stem Cells
• Adult Progenitor Cells as a Potential Treatment for Diabetes
• Islet Cell Therapy and Pancreatic Stem Cells
• Cell Therapy of Liver Disease: From Hepatocytes to Stem Cells
• Adult Liver Stem Cells
• Cell Lineages and Stem Cells in the Embryonic Kidney
• Orthopaedic Applications of Stem Cells
• Somatic Cells–Growth and Expansion Potential of T Lymphocytes
• Designing Tunable Artificial Matrices for Stem Cell Culture
• Stem Cell Gene Therapy
• Histogenesis in Three-Dimensional Scaffolds
• Stem Cells in Tissue Engineering
• Ethical Considerations
• Stem Cell Research–Religious Considerations
• US Stem Cell Research Policy
• Overview of the FDA Regulatory Process
• It's Not About Curiosity, It's About Cures