Amniotic fluid stem cells and their clinical implication

Human amniotic fluid has been used in prenatal diagnosis for more than 70 years and existence of stem cells in amniotic fluid was reported for the first time almost eight years ago. It has proven to be a safe, reliable and simple screening tool for a wide variety of developmental and genetic diseases. Today, amniotic fluid stem (AFS) cells are widely accepted as a new powerful tool for basic research as well as for the establishment of new stem cell based therapy concepts. Human AFS cells have become an attractive stem cell source for medical therapy due to both their ability to propagate as stem cells and the lack of ethical debate that comes with the use of embryonic stem cells. AFS cells are known to yield a number of cell types which are multipotent, ethically derived, genetically stable, easily grown, expanded and possess favorable immunogenicity, which has resulted in an increasing interest for use in various diseases. Different forty six samples of AFS cells were carried away for culturing and characterization purposes with RT-PCR, immunocytochemistry and staining methods. Ten samples were used for chemical induced guided differentiation of amniotic fluid derived cells into neurogenic, adipogenic and osteogenic cells followed by particular staining i.e. oil-red-O and von Kossa for morphological bases and RTPCR confirmation with nestin, fatty acid binding protein (FAB P)-4 and osteocalcin, respectively. These cells are characterized by the expression of mesenchymal as well as pluripotency markers (CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, CD105, CD133, Oct-4 and SSEA -4) and neural (nestin, βIII-tubulin, NE FH) markers. They are capable of differentiating into diverse derivatives in vitro. Clonal human lines verified by retroviral marking were induced to differentiate into into various cell lineages, including hematopoietic, adipogenic, osteogenic, myogenic, endothelial, hepatogenic, chondrocytic, pulmonary, cardiac and neurogenic. These undifferentiated cells proliferated without feeders layer and conserve a normal karyotype with long telomeres over long culture periods. Most important their own advantageous properties, amniotic fluid stem cells are emerging as a novel source in anticancer and antitumor therapy.

This work was supported by the European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic, project no. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0022