Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology
4Amniotic fluid and placental stem cells
Section snippets
Amniotic fluid
Embryonic and fetal cells from all three germ layers have long been identified in the amniotic fluid.2., 3., 4., 5. However, the specific origins of many subsets of these cell types still remain to be determined. The profile of the cellular component of the amniotic fluid varies with gestational age.6., 7. In addition to the common origin with the mesenchymal portion of the placenta, as mentioned above, throughout pregnancy the amniotic cavity/fluid receives cells shed from the fetus and, quite
Placenta
The cell types found in the placenta at different gestational ages are a result of the mechanisms behind placental development. In the human placenta, villous development starts between 12 and 18 days post-conception (p.c.), when the trophoblastic trabeculae of the placental anlage proliferate and form trophoblastic protrusions, the primary villi, into the maternal blood surrounding the trabeculae.41 Two days later, embryonic connective tissue from the extra-embryonic mesenchyme invades these
Ethical considerations
The cells present in the amniotic fluid and in most of the placenta are fetal cells. The use of fetal tissue/cells has always been object of intense ethical debate. The main reason for the current ethical controversies comes from the fact that the primary source of fetal tissue is induced abortion. Spontaneous abortion does not usually raise many moral issues. The National Institutes of Health, the American Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and the American Fertility Society, in accordance
Perspectives of clinical applications
Because the proposition that stem cells can be isolated from the amniotic fluid and the placenta, then expanded and manipulated in culture, is so recent, it is not surprising that a therapeutic application of these cells has yet to be reported in humans. Nevertheless, different uses of these cells have already been demonstrated experimentally in animal models.
One example is the concept of utilizing the amniotic fluid or the placenta as stem cell sources for fetal tissue engineering (Figure 2).
Summary
The amniotic fluid and the placenta might provide the least invasive access to different stem cell populations, including mesenchymal and—possibly—embryonic stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells are by far the more abundant and easy to isolate. What could be embryonic-like stem cells, however, cannot always be isolated with current methods and represent less than 1% of the cells present in amniotic fluid or placental samples. To date, mesenchymal amniocytes have shown multilineage potential into
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Bidirectional Feto-Maternal Traffic of Donor Mesenchymal Stem Cells Following Transamniotic Stem Cell Therapy (TRASCET)
2024, Journal of Pediatric SurgeryTransamniotic stem cell therapy (TRASCET): An emerging minimally invasive strategy for intrauterine stem cell delivery
2023, Seminars in PerinatologyTransamniotic stem cell therapy (TRASCET) for intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR): A comparison between placental and amniotic fluid donor mesenchymal stem cells
2023, Journal of Pediatric SurgeryCitation Excerpt :Both the amniotic fluid and the placenta can serve as relatively easily accessible sources of fetal MSCs. The amniotic fluid-derived afMSCs are known to be anti-inflammatory and could possibly modulate uNK cell associated inflammatory signaling in IUGR [7–9]. Placenta-derived MSCs (pMSCs) could possibly contribute to regulating angiogenesis, thus improving IUGR-associated spiral artery remodeling and placental dysfunction [10–11].
Routing pathway of syngeneic donor hematopoietic stem cells after simple intra-amniotic delivery
2022, Journal of Pediatric SurgeryIntrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) as a potential target for transamniotic stem cell therapy
2022, Journal of Pediatric SurgeryCitation Excerpt :These cells are naturally present in the placenta and have a number of biological roles there, many of which are unrelated to inflammation [25,26]. Indeed, the placenta is known to have a sizeable mesenchymal progenitor cell component [26]. Its role in placental development involves, at least in part, the recruitment of its cells to support the vigorous angiogenesis that occurs during vascularization of the villous sprouts, in addition to the angiogenesis based on the proliferation of endothelial precursors [27].
Unselected CD117 expression in amniotic and placental mesenchymal stem cells
2021, Journal of Pediatric Surgery