Author(s)

Ciro Gargiulo^1*, Van Hung Pham², Nguyen Thuy Hai¹, Kieu C. D. Nguyen³, Pham Van Phuc⁴, Kenji Abe⁵, Veronica Flores⁶, Melvin Shiffman⁷

¹Division of Internal Medicine, The Human Medicine International Clinic, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
²Molecular Diagnostics Department, Nam Khoa-Biotek Laboratory, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
³Division of Pathology, The Human Medicine International Clinic, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
⁴Department of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, University of Natural Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
⁵Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
⁷Section of Surgery, Newport Specialty Hospital, Tustin, USA.

Stem cells are commonly classified based on the developmental stage from which they are isolated, although this has been a source of debate amongst stem cell scientists. A common approach classifies stem cells into three different groupings: Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs), Umbilical Cord Stem Cells (UCBSCs) and Adult Stem Cells (ASCs), which include stem cells from bone marrow (BM), fat tissue (FT), engineered induced pluripotent (IP) and peripheral blood (PB). By definition stem cells are progenitor cells capable of self-renewal and differentiation hypothetically “ab infinitum” into more specialized cells and tissue. The main intent of this study was to determine and characterize the different sub-groups of stem cells present within the human PB-SCs that may represent a valid opportunity in the field of clinical regenerative medicine. Stem cells in the isolated mononucleated cells were characterized using a multidisciplinary approach that was based on morphology, the expression of stem cell markers by flowcytometry and fluorescence analysis, RT-PCR and the capacity to self-renew or proliferate and differentiate into specialized cells. This approach was used to identify the expression of hematopoietic, mesenchymal, embryonic and neural stem cell markers. Both isolated adherent and suspension mononucleated cells were able to maintain their stem cell properties during in-vitro culture by holding their capacity for proliferation and differentiation into osteoblast cells, respectively, when exposed to the appropriate induction medium.

Human Peripheral Blood Stem Cells, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Neural Stem Cells

Gargiulo, C. , Pham, V. , Thuy Hai, N. , Nguyen, K. , Phuc, P. , Abe, K. , Flores, V. and Shiffman, M. (2015) Isolation and Characterization of Multipotent and Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Peripheral Blood. Stem Cell Discovery, 5, 19-32. doi: 10.4236/scd.2015.53003.