A short YouTube talk (by Joy Kong, MD) explaining risks of using expanded stem cells. The speaker notes that expanding cells can reduce efficacy and introduce side effects: stressed cultured cells may secrete inflammatory molecules, provoke inflammatory responses, and differentiated/altered cells can express donor-like surface markers. Transplanting this mixture into a recipient raises the chance of immune rejection.
The problem with expanding the cells is not just is reduced in this efficacy, but also there could be all kinds of added side effects. For example, when the cells are stressed in a culture, they could secrete a lot of inflammatory molecules and these can cause different type of response, inflammatory response. They can also start to express surface markers. These cells that are differentiating are changing and morphing. They could end up expressing surface markers that is the same kind of markers as the donor. Right. The donor is different from the recipient. By the time you use this soup of cells in the recipient now, you have a higher chance of rejection by the recipient.
