Figure 1.

Sources and types of human stem cells. (A) Pluripotent cells, such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are obtained from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst and by reprogramming of somatic cells (e.g., collected from dermal skin fibroblasts or peripheral blood), respectively. They can generate cells and tissues derived from the three embryonic germ layers. (B) Several types of multipotent stem cells are found in adult tissues. These have a more restrictive differentiation potential than pluripotent stem cells. Examples of multipotent stem cells currently being used in CVD therapy include (i) mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which can be derived from different tissue sources such as bone marrow, fat adipose tissue, and umbilical cord; (ii) bone-marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BMMNCs); (iii) cardiac stem cells (CSCs); (iv) endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs); (v) hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs); and (vi) skeletal myoblasts (SMs). This figure was partially drawn by using pictures from Servier Medical Art. Servier Medical Art by Servier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, accessed on 28 May 2023).