Human Amniotic Epithelial Stem Cells: A Promising Seed Cell for Clinical Applications

Abstract

Perinatal stem cells have been regarded as an attractive and available cell source for medical research and clinical trials in recent years. Multiple stem cell types have been identified in the human placenta. Recent advances in knowledge on placental stem cells have revealed that human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAESCs) have obvious advantages and can be used as a novel potential cell source for cellular therapy and clinical application. hAESCs are known to possess stem-cell-like plasticity, immune-privilege, and paracrine properties. In addition, non-tumorigenicity and a lack of ethical concerns are two major advantages compared with embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). All of the characteristics mentioned above and other additional advantages, including easy accessibility and a non-invasive application procedure, make hAESCs a potential ideal cell type for use in both research and regenerative medicine in the near future. This review article summarizes current knowledge on the characteristics, therapeutic potential, clinical advances and future challenges of hAESCs in detail.

The Synergistic Anti-Apoptosis Effects of Amniotic Epithelial Stem Cell Conditioned Medium and Ponesimod on the Oligodendrocyte Cells

“…Consistent with our data, in a mouse model of perinatal brain injury, hAEC-CM was effective at reducing injury severity by decreasing the percentage of neural apoptosis (Leaw et al, 2017). Meng et al and Sankar et al showed that hAECs can promote the survival of neurons and alter the microenvironment for neural repair (Qiu et al, 2020). Also, the hAEC-CM was found to have neurotrophic effects in a spinal cord injury (Nguyen et al, 2010;Jayapal et al, 2014).…”

Gene Expression in Amnion-Derived Cells Cultured on Recombinant Laminin 332—A Preliminary Study

“…Also, vitamin C was reported to promote hAC proliferation ( 17 ). Usually, DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS and 10 ng/ml of epidermal growth factor (EGF) is used ( 26 ), but certain medium modifications can stimulate hAC differentiation into cells of different germ layers ( 27 ). We used TeSR2, a serum-free medium dedicated to stem cells and free of complementary growth factors, such as EGF.…”

Crescentic Glomerulonephritis: Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Potential of Human Amniotic Stem Cells

“…hAECs are a heterogeneous epithelial population that originates from the lining of the inner membrane of the placenta which provides an abundant cellular source for stem cell-based therapy (Miki et al, 2005). In comparison to other sources of stem cells, gestational tissue gives great advantages including easy collection without the need for invasive methods (Qiu et al, 2020). Large numbers of hAECs can be isolated from the placenta after birth, thus bypassing ethical barriers and resulting in an abundance of immediately available, primary (non-cultured) cells to be used therapeutically.…”

“…hAECs have immense potential to safely reduce the burden of many serious diseases and injuries to different organs, including the kidney, due to their unique properties (Ren et al, 2020). They possess some degree of plasticity, immune privilege, non-tumorigenicity, anti-infection/cancer properties, and lack of ethical concerns and paracrine properties that are essential to their potential therapeutic applications in immune-mediated diseases (Qiu et al, 2020).…”