Table 1.

Advantages and disadvantages of various cell sources used in STE.

Cell source	Advantages	Disadvantages
Embryonic stem cells	Pluripotent Abundant source	Ethical concerns Tendency to form teratomas
Induced pluripotent stem cells	Pluripotent Ethically approved Autologous	Difficult to develop Carcinogenic and tumorigenic tendency
Differentiated primary cells	Closest to in vivo Autologous	Difficult to isolate and maintain
Adult stem cells
(1) Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells	Clinically tested Can be used in allogenic setting	Invasive procedure of isolation
(2) Adipose-derived stem cells	Non-invasive procedure of isolation Can be used in allogenic setting	Clinically unapproved
(3) Skin stem cells	Predisposed to differentiation into skin cell lineage	Difficult to isolate
Cell lines	Robust; easy to culture	Genetically altered