Even after birth, our body contains stem cells, namely "adult" stem cells. They occur above all in the bone marrow, skin and brain. Whereas embryonic stem cells have the potential to differentiate into all cell types, adult stem cells are only capable of generating certain tissue-specific cell types. Their primary role is to produce new specialized cells throughout the entire life cycle of the organism (for instance, the bone marrow stem cells constantly generate new blood cells).

A severe and crushing chest pain just behind the breastbone (the sternum) and a feeling of pressure and suffocation. The condition is due to an inadequate supply of oxygen to the heart muscle.

Angioplasty with stent placement is a treatment that is e.g. used after a heart attack: The blocked coronary artery is opened by a catheter-guided balloon and a stent (which is a wire-mesh tube that expands to keep the artery open) is placed in the narrowed section.

Atherosclerosis or Arteriosclerotic Vascular Disease (ASVD) is the condition in which an artery wall hardens and blood vessels narrow as the result of a build-up of deposits of fat and fibrous tissue, called plaques. Atherosclerosis can lead to stroke, heart attack, eye problems, and kidney problems. Different factors contribute to "hardening" of the arteries, such as smoking, overweight, high blood pressure, elevated blood lipid levels and diabetes.

The substance that is located in the hollow interior of long bones. It is the tissue that contains stem cells to form different types of blood cells.

A cardiac catheter is a medical device consisting of a thin plastic tube which is inserted into a cardiac vessel. From there it can be pushed into the heart. It can be used as means to inject dye so that the coronary arteries can be visualized on a screen. Blocked vessels can be opened up by means of an inflated balloon which is connected to the catheter. In the stem cell therapy after a heart attack, a catheter is used to deliver the stem cells to the coronary vessels.

In the case of a cardiac insufficiency (heart failure) the heart is not able to pump efficiently and is incapable of adapting its pumping performance to the bodies' demands.

A branch of medicine pertaining to the structure, function and diseases of the heart and the vascular system.

Coronary artery bypass surgery is a heart operation whereby constricted coronary blood vessels are bypassed using the patients' transplanted blood vessels. Through this operation, blood can flow through the new vessels, and supply the heart with sufficient blood.

The term ‚coronary vessels' or ,coronary arteries' refers to the blood vessels that supply the cardiac muscle with blood. They are arranged in a circular fashion around the heart (the medical term being "coronoid" derived from the Latin term "corona").

In density gradient centrifugation, the sample for examination is placed in a centrifugation tube onto the surface of a solution. During centrifugation, the different components of the sample will accumulate as layers ("bands") according to their density and can then be removed for further analysis.

In a double-blind study, neither the doctors nor the patients know which of the participating test subjects are administered the actual drug and which subjects receive a placebo. This assures objectivity in the evaluation of the experimental results. The same procedure is also used to verify the efficiency of treatment methods.

Cells in early embryos that have the potential to differentiate into all types of specialised cells. Up to the embryonic stage of eight cells, an entire organism could develop from each of these cells. After this stage the cells are called adult stem cells and their ability to differentiate into many different cell types remains high. When stem cells divide, the daughter cells can either become stem cells themselves or differentiate into a specialized somatic cell type.

Reproductive cells that only have half the usual number of chromosomes (gametes). In animals, these are the sperm or egg, in plants the pollen and ovum.

In a myocardial infarction, one or more coronary vessels, that provide the heart with oxygen, are blocked by a blood clot. The subsequent cardiac muscle tissue is not supplied with oxygen anymore and dies, if this condition persists for a longer period of time.

A branch of medicine that is concerned with the study of blood and blood diseases.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) are adult cells, for example skin or fat cells, that are rejuvenated by scientists and that are very similar to embryonic stem cells. If an adult skin cell is altered by genetic manipulation, it is called iPS (unlike piPS).

Leukocytes, also referred to as "white blood cells", are blood cells of the immune system that defend the body against infections.

MRI refers to magnetic resonance imaging, which is synonymous with the term nuclear spin tomography (nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, NMRI), a technique used in medicinal technology to obtain cross sectional images of the human body in any position. Thus pathological changes in the body can be diagnosed. Unlike computer tomography (CT) this method uses magnetic fields to generate images instead of x-rays.

A multicenter study is a medical study that is carried out collaterally in different places by different institutions.

Multipotent stem cells are capable of differentiating into certain tissue-specific cell types. They cannot develop into all cell types. Adult stem cells are multipotent.

Protein-induced pluripotent stem cells (piPS) are also rejuvenated adult cells, but in this case the process does not include genetical modification (as for iPS), but a protein cocktail of recombinant proteins that reprograms the adult cells into embryonic-like cells.

Placebos are artificial drugs that do not contain any active substances. Placebos look and taste like the real drug. They are for example used in clinical trials, and administered to the patients of the control group. It has been shown that through psychological factors placebos can also bring about an improvement in health or even cure a disease. This is referred to as a "placebo effect".

Pluripotent stem cells can develop into nearly any cell type of the body. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent.

Progenitor cells are descendants of adult stem cells. They still retain the regeneration capability typical of stem cells but are confined to a particular function. Meanwhile, the existence of progenitor cells has been established in various tissue types, e.g. in the heart, muscles and skin.

Randomized means that something is selected at random. In the case of medical surveys, it refers to the random allocation of different treatments to patients. As long as the numbers of patients are sufficient, randomization is an effective method for balancing different characteristics between the groups (e.g. age or gender).

Recombinant proteins are proteins that are made from the recombination of DNA-fragments of different organisms.

After the transplant of a donor organ, the immune system can recognize that the organ is foreign tissue and will reject it. This reaction can be prevented by administering drugs that inhibit the immune system.

Cells of nonreproductive body tissues.

An undifferentiated cell that has the ability to divide for indefinite periods in a culture and whose daughter cells in tissues may differentiate into other cell types (such as blood, nerve, muscle cells). Stem cells have the potential to develop into all (totipotent) or many (pluripotent) different cell types in the body.

A teratoma is a tumor which occurs in the gonads or body cavities, derived of embryonic germ cells.

In thrombolytic therapy, drugs that dissolve blood clots are given to the patient via an injection under the supervision of a doctor. This can e.g. be necessary after a heart attack.

Totipotent stem cells are capable of developing into an entire living creature. It is assumed that cells in an embryo remain totipotent only until the eight-cell stage.

The ComScience project is a Cooperation Action (#230470) funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme: FP7 - Capacities - Science in Society ComScience © 2009-12

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