TY - JOUR
T1 - Stem cells derived from amniotic fluid
T2 - New potentials in regenerative medicine
AU - Cananzi, Mara
AU - Atala, Anthony
AU - De Coppi, Paolo
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Alberta Leon and Paul O’Mahoney for their critical revision of the manuscript. MC has been financed by the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Padova and by Fondazione Città della Speranza, Malo (VI), Italy.
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2009/3
Y1 - 2009/3
N2 - Human amniotic fluid cells have been used as a diagnostic tool for the prenatal diagnosis of fetal genetic anomalies for more than 50 years. Evidence provided in the last 5 years, however, suggests that they can also harbour a therapeutic potential for human diseases, as different populations of fetal-derived stem cells have been isolated from amniotic fluid. Mesenchymal stem cells were the first to be described, which possess the higher proliferation and differentiation plasticity of adult mesenchymal stem cells and are able to differentiate towards mesodermal lineages. Amniotic fluid stem cells have more recently been isolated. They represent a novel class of pluripotent stem cells with intermediate characteristics between embryonic and adult stem cells, as they are able to differentiate into lineages representative of all three germ layers but do not form tumours when injected in vivo. These characteristics, together with the absence of ethical issues concerning their employment, suggest that stem cells present in the amniotic fluid might be promising candidates for tissue engineering and stem cell therapy of several human disorders.
AB - Human amniotic fluid cells have been used as a diagnostic tool for the prenatal diagnosis of fetal genetic anomalies for more than 50 years. Evidence provided in the last 5 years, however, suggests that they can also harbour a therapeutic potential for human diseases, as different populations of fetal-derived stem cells have been isolated from amniotic fluid. Mesenchymal stem cells were the first to be described, which possess the higher proliferation and differentiation plasticity of adult mesenchymal stem cells and are able to differentiate towards mesodermal lineages. Amniotic fluid stem cells have more recently been isolated. They represent a novel class of pluripotent stem cells with intermediate characteristics between embryonic and adult stem cells, as they are able to differentiate into lineages representative of all three germ layers but do not form tumours when injected in vivo. These characteristics, together with the absence of ethical issues concerning their employment, suggest that stem cells present in the amniotic fluid might be promising candidates for tissue engineering and stem cell therapy of several human disorders.
KW - Amniotic fluid
KW - Fetal cells
KW - Regenerative medicine
KW - Stem cells
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U2 - 10.1016/S1472-6483(10)60111-3
DO - 10.1016/S1472-6483(10)60111-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 19281660
AN - SCOPUS:63249122637
VL - 18
SP - 17
EP - 27
JO - Reproductive BioMedicine Online
JF - Reproductive BioMedicine Online
SN - 1472-6483
IS - SUPPL. 1
ER -