New insights into thyroid stem cells.

Stem cells exhibit an extraordinary ability for self-renewal. They also give rise to many specialized cells. The potential of stem cells in regenerative medicine, developmental biology, and drug discovery has been well documented. Although advances in stem cell science have raised broad ethical concerns, it is clear that stem cell technology has revolutionized our thinking in modern biology and medicine and provided the basis for understanding many of the mechanisms controlling basic biological processes and disease mechanisms. This review details the nascent field of thyroid stem cell research, exploring the current status of thyroid stem cell differentiation from the perspectives of both developmental biology and cell replacement therapy. It highlights successes to date in the generation of thyroid follicular cells from embryonic stem cells in the laboratory and the identification and characterization of adult stem cells from human thyroid glands and thyroid cancers. Finally, it outlines future challenges with a focus on potential stem cell therapy for thyroid patients.