Title:Human Amniotic Fluid Stem Cells as an Attractive Tool for Clinical Applications
VOLUME: 8 ISSUE: 2
Author(s):Ourania Trohatou, Nicholas P. Anagnou and Maria G. Roubelakis
Affiliation:Laboratory of Biology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens 115 27, Greece; Cell and Gene Therapy Laboratory Centre of Basic Research II Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA), Athens 115 27, Greece.
Keywords:Amniotic fluid, animal models, cell transplantation, c-Kit, fetal stem cells, MSCs, stem cell therapy, Regenerative medicine, Anti-inflammatory Response, bone defects, IMMUNOMODULATORY PROPERTIES
Abstract:Recent studies support cell based therapies for several diseases. Human fetal stem cells have received much attention
for developing new therapeutic strategies. Recently, our group and others have successfully isolated and expanded
karyotypically normal stem cells from an alternative fetal source, the human second trimester amniotic fluid (AF) and performed
a systematic phenotypic and molecular analysis. The main characteristics of amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSCs)
are their fetal origin, the high number of isolated cells, their wide differentiation properties and their rapid expansion in
vitro. These characteristics render hAFSCs as a very attractive tool for clinical applications based on cell therapy. The use
of hAFSC transplantation has been studied in a variety of disease animal models related to bone regeneration, myocardial
infarction, acute kidney injury, acute hepatic failure, skin injury, ischemic hind limb or cancer. The major aim of this review
is to summarize the advent of hAFSCs capabilities into novel therapeutic modalities and discuss their potential use
in future pre-clinical and clinical studies.
