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REVIEW article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1564964
This article is part of the Research Topic Pluripotent Stem Cells in Mammal Adult Tissues View all 3 articles
Very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs) on the way for potential applications in regenerative medicine
Provisionally accepted
Kannathasan Thetchinamoorthy 1
Justyna Jarczak 1 Patrycja Kieszek 1 Diana Wierzbicka 1 Janina Ratajczak 2 Magdalena Kucia 1
Mariusz Z Ratajczak 1,2*- 1 Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Masovian, Poland
- 2 University of Louisville, Louisville, Colorado, United States
Evidence has accumulated that adult tissues contain a population of early development stem cells capable of differentiating across germ layers into various types of cells. Our group purified these rare cells, naming them very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs). With their broad differentiation potential, VSELs have emerged as a new candidate population for clinical applications. This advancement is now possible due to our recent development of a model for ex vivo expansion of these rare cells. Importantly, no evidence suggests that VSELs, isolated from adult tissues, can form teratomas. In this review paper, we update current research on these cells reported in our laboratory as well as in those of several independent investigators.
Keywords: Pluripotent Stem Cells, tissue organ regeneration, very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs), Embryonic Stem Cells, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Received: 22 Jan 2025; Accepted: 17 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Thetchinamoorthy, Jarczak, Kieszek, Wierzbicka, Ratajczak, Kucia and Ratajczak. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mariusz Z Ratajczak, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, 02-091, Masovian, Poland
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