Stem Cell-based Therapy and Disease Modeling

Dear Colleagues,

Regenerative cell therapy has the potential to heal or replace tissues and organs damaged by age, disease, or injury. Stem cells represent a great promise as a cell source for regenerative cell therapy and have received increasing attention from basic scientists, clinicians, and the public due to their self-renewing capacity and the ability to form multiple cell types. Stem cells are present in the human body at all stages of life, from the earliest times of development (e.g., embryonic stem cells and fetal stem cells) through adulthood (various adult stem cells). Different types of stem cells differ in the aspects of proliferation and differentiation, which results in their various potential applications in cell therapy. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be reprogrammed from somatic cells such as skin and blood cells into embryonic stem cell-like pluripotent cells with the ability to generate an unlimited type of human cells, as needed for therapeutic purposes. Additionally, human stem cells with their differentiation potential constitute a promising system for disease modeling. In particular, recent progress in the field of cellular reprogramming has opened the doors to a new era of disease modelling. In fact, iPSCs can be generated from diverse patient populations,  expanded, and differentiated into a disease-related cells (e.g., neurons and blood cells), which can then be used as a tool to improve the understanding of disease mechanisms and test therapeutic interventions. This Special Issue will present state-of-the-art research that investigates the therapeutic effect of various stem cells and models diseases using stem cells. We anticipate that this volume will establish a new benchmark for the refinement of new technologies for reprogramming cells as well as for our understanding of stem cell differentiation, stem cell-based tissue regeneration potential, and disease mechanisms. In this Special Issue, we are seeking high-quality reviews, research papers, case reports, letters to the Editor, editorials, and technical reports on the following topics related to stem cell biology and stem cell-based therapy and disease modeling：

• Stem cell-mediated tissue regeneration and disease modeling
• Stem cell differentiation approaches and mechanisms
• Maturation of stem cell-derived somatic cells (e.g., neurons and cardiomyocytes)
• The mechanisms (e.g., exosome and microRNAs) of stem cell-mediated tissue regeneration  
• 3D organoid models and 3D-printed tissues

Prof. Xiaowen Bai
Prof. Allison D. Ebert
Guest Editors

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