when specialized cells join together in a group they form

It has not yet been established whether the cells taken from these other tissues are really the same as, or similar to, the mesenchymal stem cells of the bone marrow. There have since been many claims that they also exist in a wide variety of other tissues, such as umbilical cord blood, adipose (fat) tissue and muscle. MSCs were originally found in the bone marrow. They have not been proven to make other types of cells of the body. Mesenchymal stem cell differentiation: MSCs can make fat, cartilage and bone cells. In other cases, the results were an artificial effect caused by chemicals used to grow the cells in the lab. In some cases, it appears that the MSCs might have fused together with existing specialized cells, leading to false conclusions about the ability of MSCs to produce certain cell types. These results were not confirmed in later studies. Some early research suggested that MSCs might also differentiate into many different types of cells that do not belong to the skeletal tissues, such as nerve cells, heart muscle cells, liver cells and endothelial cells, which form the inner layer of blood vessels. These specialized cells each have their own characteristic shapes, structures and functions, and each belongs in a particular tissue. For example, they can differentiate − or specialize − into cartilage cells (chondrocytes), bone cells (osteoblasts) and fat cells (adipocytes). MSCs make the different specialized cells found in the skeletal tissues.

They are ‘multipotent’, meaning they can produce more than one type of specialized cell of the body, but not all types. MSCs (also known as Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Mesenchymal Stromal Cells or Medicinal Signalling Cells) are an example of tissue or 'adult' stem cells.

When specialized cells join together in a group they form