Analyzing current status of stem cell research based on National Natural Science Foundation of China's completed projects from 2018 to 2022

doi:10.12307/2025.045

Abstract

Abstract: BACKGROUND: At present, most research focuses on in-depth analysis of a certain aspect of stem cells from the perspective of papers and project applications funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, or verifies certain evaluation methods, lacking a comprehensive analysis of the completed projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China in the field of stem cells.
OBJECTIVE: To understand the funding status and research hotspots of National Natural Science Foundation of China projects in the field of stem cells from 2018 to 2022, providing a reference for subsequent research.
METHODS: Using “stem cells” as the search terms, databases were searched such as Big Data Knowledge Management Service Portal of the National Natural Science Foundation of China to extract project information, clean and merge keywords, institutions, supporting units and regions. Software such as Excel, Echarts, and VOSviewer was used to perform word frequency statistics, cluster analysis, and visualization.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The National Natural Science Foundation of China’s Stem Cell Project has demonstrated significant characteristics of interdisciplinary integration, covering not only medicine and life sciences, but also multiple disciplines such as chemistry, information science, engineering and materials science, earth science, and mathematical science, bringing revolutionary progress to the development of the stem cell industry. Keyword clustering analysis shows that China’s funding for stem cells mainly focuses on areas such as mesenchymal stem cells, tumor stem cells, embryonic stem cells, neural stem cells, and hematopoietic stem cells. By comparison, the funding of China, the United States, and the United Kingdom each has their own emphasis, reflecting the different development directions in the field of stem cells in each country and providing broad space for international cooperation. In the past five years, although the number of completed projects has remained stable, the amount of completed projects has slightly decreased, indicating that China’s investment in the field of stem cells is relatively insufficient. Therefore, it is recommended to strengthen the investment of the National Natural Science Foundation in this field and guide more social capital to participate, forming a diversified investment pattern to promote the rapid development of the stem cell industry.

Key words: stem cell, National Natural Science Foundation of China, cluster analysis, research hotspots, bibliometrics

CLC Number:

Jiang Jun, Zhang Bin. Analyzing current status of stem cell research based on National Natural Science Foundation of China's completed projects from 2018 to 2022[J]. Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research, 2025, 29(19): 4145-4150.

Figures/Tables 5

把该方法用于计算2018-2022年干细胞领域结题项目，得出各省NCI值，分数超过1代表超过平均水平。除了西藏、台湾和澳门外，共涉及31个省级行政区。其中，上海NCI最高，达到5.18分；其次是北京，达到4.67分；第三是广东，达到3.88；然后是江苏，达到2.47分；浙江、湖北、重庆、陕西、山东都超过1分，分数最少的是河北和青海，不到0.1分。 2.4 国家自然科学基金干细胞结题项目主题分布通过文献计量分析软件VOSviewer对3 067项结题项目的关键词进行聚类分析，以探索干细胞领域的研究热点。对关键词进行清洗，筛选出338个高频关键词(频次≥5)，共聚合为5类主题：红色部分以“间充质干细胞”为核心关键词，研究微环境中通过外泌体传递微小RNA和长链非编码RNA，以骨髓间充质干细胞为代表向成骨方向分化，同时恢复组织稳态并使细胞能够修复和再生，具有免疫调节与炎症抑制能力；绿色部分以“肿瘤干细胞”为核心关键词，研究肝肿瘤、乳腺肿瘤、结直肠肿瘤、胶质瘤、肺肿瘤等肿瘤干细胞，通过WNT和NOTCH信号通路调控肿瘤的生长和转移，其中自噬机制在肿瘤干细胞中发挥重要作用，靶向治疗在克服耐药性方面发挥重要机制；蓝色部分以“胚胎干细胞”为核心关键词，主要研究胚胎干细胞等多能干细胞的无限增殖和分化能力，分化过程受到基因调控和表观遗传的共同影响，基因编辑技术为胚胎干细胞研究提供了新工具，然而随着细胞的增殖和分化，细胞的衰老过程也随之而来，这为胚胎干细胞的应用带来了挑战和机遇；黄色部分以“神经干细胞”为核心关键词，在脊髓损伤和缺血性脑卒中的治疗中，诱导多能干细胞和内源性神经干细胞是研究的热点，干细胞移植是促进神经再生和修复受损组织的重要手段，纳米载体为细胞移植提供了新的途径，而分子影像和磁共振成像技术则有助于监测干细胞移植后的存活和分布情况；紫色部分以“造血干细胞”为核心关键词，研究急性髓性白血病干细胞与正常造血干细胞在发育和调节机制上存在差异，异基因造血干细胞移植是治疗急性髓性白血病的有效手段，但移植物抗宿主病是主要的并发症，骨髓微环境对造血干细胞的发育和功能起着重要作用，而调节性T细胞在免疫耐受中发挥关键作用，见图8。"

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