Human amnion mesenchyme cells express phenotypes of neuroglial progenitor cells

Abstract

Previous studies from our laboratory showed that human amnion epithelial cells (AECs) have multiple functions, such as synthesis and release of catecholamines, acetylcholine, neurotrophic factors, activin, and noggin. In this study, we investigated the identity of neural progenitor cells in human amnion mesenchyme cells (AMCs), which lie immediately adjacent to the AECs. Cryostat sections revealed that vimentin expression was detected in the AMCs and CK19 in AECs. Vimentin-positive cells made up 97.5% of total cells tested in cultured AMCs. Interestingly, 3.6% of total AMCs expressed the phenotype CK19+/vimentin+, indicating coexpression of epithelial and mesenchyme cell markers. In culturing with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) for 24 hr, 66-82% of cells were found to be BrdU positive, suggesting that they have proliferating potency. By using RT-PCR, AMCs express mRNA of nestin and Musashi1. With a neural cell differentiating protocol, cell bodies extended long bipolar or complex multipolar processes. Nestin (87.7% of total cells tested) and Musashi1 (93.1%) were expressed in undifferentiated cells, and their positively stained cells increased in number slightly after induction. Undifferentiated cells were stained by anti-Tuj1 and NF-M, and their positively stained cells increased significantly in number after induction, to 72.8% and 46.0%, respectively. Meanwhile, glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive cells increased from 25.4% to 43.2% after induction. These studies demonstrate that AMCs have phenotypes of neuroglial progenitor cells and can be differentiated into neuroglial phenotypes by optimal differentiation protocol. Eventually, AMC-derived stem cells may be a favorable cell vehicle in regenerative medicine.

Fetal Membrane Cells for Treatment of Steroid-Refractory Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease

“…Fetal-derived cells may have better differentiation abilities, which may make them better candidates for regenerative purposes. Amnion-derived stromal cells have previously been described not only to differentiate into mesenchymal lineages but also into hepatocytic [58], myogenic [29], pancreatic [59], angiogenic [29], and neurogenic [30] lineages.…”

“…Stromal cells from term placental tissue and umbilical cord tissue share many features with BM-MSCs in terms of differentiation potential and surface marker expression [3,5,6,[29][30][31]. We have developed a protocol for generation of large quantities of fetal membrane cells (FMCs) from placenta with immunosuppressive and homing properties [4].…”

Placenta-derived stem cells: new hope for cell therapy?

“…Interestingly, the mesenchymal marker vimentin, although absent on freshly isolated hAEC, has also been shown to appear during culture (Miki and Strom 2006;Toda et al 2007). The significance of the expression of both epithelial and mesenchymal markers by hAEC remains to be elucidated, although it could be due to the spontaneous commencement of differentiation during culture, or perhaps to the so-called epithelial to mesenchymal transition in the amnion, as also suggested by Sakuragawa et al (2004).…”

Preferential expansion of human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34-positive cells on major histocompatibility complex-matched amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells

“…Recent studies have shown that the amnion is indeed a rich source of fetal MSC and useful for regenerative medicine. [15][16][17][18][19] Unfortunately, most placentas are discarded as medical waste at birth.…”

“…It is well known that the amnion is of fetal origin, and it has recently been shown that amniotic tissues are a rich source of MSC. [15][16][17][18][19] In the present study, we, therefore, first attempted to obtain an HSC-enriched population (lineage-negative and CD34-positive cells: Lin -CD34 + cells) from the UCB and characterize the proliferation and differentiation capacities of the Lin -CD34 + cells. In addition, we attempted to obtain adherent cells from amnion (Am-Ad cells) and examined them to see whether they have the ability to support hematopoiesis, and whether they have the characteristics of MSC.…”