Stem Cells in Amniotic Fluid as New Tools to Study Human Genetic Diseases

Abstract

In future, the characterization and isolation of different human stem cells will allow the detailed molecular investigation of cell differentiation processes and the establishment of new therapeutic concepts for a wide variety of diseases. Since the first successful isolation and cultivation of human embryonic stem cells about 10 years ago, their usage for research and therapy has been constrained by complex ethical consideration as well as by the risk of malignant development of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells after transplantation into the patient's body. Adult stem cells are ethically acceptable and harbor a low risk of tumor development. However, their differentiation potential and their proliferative capacity are limited. About 4 years ago, the discovery of amniotic fluid stem cells, expressing Oct-4, a specific marker of pluripotent stem cells, and harboring a high proliferative capacity and multilineage differentiation potential, initiated a new and promising stem cell research field. In between, amniotic fluid stem cells have been demonstrated to harbor the potential to differentiate into cells of all three embryonic germlayers. These stem cells do not form tumors in vivo and do not raise the ethical concerns associated with human embryonic stem cells. Further investigations will reveal whether amniotic fluid stem cells really represent an intermediate cell type with advantages over both, adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. The approach to generate clonal amniotic fluid stem cell lines as new tools to investigate molecular and cell biological consequences of human natural occurring disease causing mutations is discussed.

Embryoid body formation of human amniotic fluid stem cells depends on mTOR

“…It could be a promising strategy of highest value for basic research to establish hAFSCs derived from a wide variety of pregnancies with specific genetic aberrations. And compared with induced pluripotent stem cells, hAFSCs do not need to undergo prior processes of inducing stem cell properties (Siegel et al, 2007). However, the question whether induced pluripotent stem cells and hAFSCs harbor pluripotentiality of the same level as embryonic stem cells is still under investigation.…”

“…They even might have advantages (such as a lower risk for tumor development and no ethical concerns) over embryonic stem cells. In addition, hAFSCs might allow to study specific differentiation processes under normal and pathological conditions with the aim to clarify how the underlying molecular mechanisms are deregulated in cells harboring natural occurring molecular alterations being causatively involved in the development of specific human genetic diseases (reviewed in Siegel et al, 2007;Perin et al, 2008;Cananzi et al, 2009). However, embryonic stem cells, when cultured without antidifferentiation factors, can spontaneously form three-dimensional multicellular aggregates called embryoid bodies (EBs).…”

In Vitro Studies of Horse Umbilical Cord Matrix-Derived Cells: From Characterization to Labeling for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

“…Furthermore, the number of MSCs isolated, and their proliferation and differentiation potential, declines with increasing donor age [2][3][4]. Fetal adnexa-derived MSCs could represent a novel class of pluripotent stem cells with characteristics intermediate between embryonic and adult stem cells [5,6]. Indeed, the origin of these tissues during the first stages of embryological development supports the theory that they may contain cells which have retained the plasticity of the early embryonic cells from which they are derived.…”

A Paediatric Perspective on Stem Cells: Expression, Function and Clinical Relevance

“…GIRK potassium channels), exhibit barium-sensitive potassium current, and release glutamate after stimulation. (Ongoing studies are investigating AFS cell capacity to yield mature, functional neurons [115][116][117][118]. AFS cells can be easily manipulated in vitro.…”