About this Research Topic
Stem cells are a promising tool for regenerative medicine, in particular, due to their potential to repair damaged tissue and to model diseases and syndromes, in vitro. The derivation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in domestic species has proved challenging, despite recent livestock advances. Multipotent stem cells have been widely used, mostly as immunomodulators, and are usually derived from adult tissues. However, pre-clinical and clinical trials using these cells still lack robust protocols, particularly when compared to human equivalents. The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has shown encouraging insights in domestic species due to their differentiation into various cell types; however, they still lack reproducible reprogramming, adequate niches and conditions for adequate and safe fate induction.
Although the rapid growth of regenerative medicine is supported by the development of biotechnologies, essential barriers related to the translation of protocols and results are still common. This is mainly concerning the establishment of cell lines, robust differentiation protocols, the use of large-scale culture systems; such as bioreactors, and adequate in vitro culture environments such as 3D systems and suitable scaffolds, and pre-clinical assessments.
Therefore, this Research Topic's primary goal is to present perspectives on stem cells in veterinary medicine by gathering expertise, recent advances in culture techniques and biomedical research using stem cells or derived products.
This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Reviews, Methods Articles, New Insights and Approaches, focusing on the following, but not limited to:
- Stem cell niche and their regulatory mechanisms
- Differentiation of stem cells into specialized cells in vitro using co-culture, 3D environments, scaffolds, or others
- Paracrine influence of stem cells or extracellular vesicles in disease modelling or differentiation
- The use of stem cells for the creation of highly predictive platforms for reliable in vitro testing
- Large-scale derivation and maintenance of stem cells in domestic animal models
- Pre-clinical and clinical trials using stem cells in veterinary medicine
- Gene editing of domestic animal stem cells
Although the rapid growth of regenerative medicine is supported by the development of biotechnologies, essential barriers related to the translation of protocols and results are still common. This is mainly concerning the establishment of cell lines, robust differentiation protocols, the use of large-scale culture systems; such as bioreactors, and adequate in vitro culture environments such as 3D systems and suitable scaffolds, and pre-clinical assessments.
Therefore, this Research Topic's primary goal is to present perspectives on stem cells in veterinary medicine by gathering expertise, recent advances in culture techniques and biomedical research using stem cells or derived products.
This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Reviews, Methods Articles, New Insights and Approaches, focusing on the following, but not limited to:
- Stem cell niche and their regulatory mechanisms
- Differentiation of stem cells into specialized cells in vitro using co-culture, 3D environments, scaffolds, or others
- Paracrine influence of stem cells or extracellular vesicles in disease modelling or differentiation
- The use of stem cells for the creation of highly predictive platforms for reliable in vitro testing
- Large-scale derivation and maintenance of stem cells in domestic animal models
- Pre-clinical and clinical trials using stem cells in veterinary medicine
- Gene editing of domestic animal stem cells
Keywords: Stem cells, iPSCs, regenerative medicine, translational medicine, animal models
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
