Abstract
Fetal stem cell- (FSC-) based therapy is a promising treatment option for many diseases. The differentiation potential of FSCs is greater than that in adult stem cells, and they are more tissue-specific and have lower immunogenicity and better intrinsic homing than embryonic ones. Embryonic stem cells have higher proliferative potential than FSCs but can cause teratomas. Therefore, an evaluation of this potential represents an important biomedical challenge. Since regulation of telomere length (TL) is one mechanism governing cellular proliferation, TL is a useful surrogate marker for cell replicative potential. The prenatal dynamics of TL, however, has never been comprehensively studied. In the present study, dynamics of TL and telomerase activity in the human fetal liver during 5–12 weeks of gestation is examined. Both TL and telomerase activity were positively correlated with week of gestation. For both parameters studied, the trend to increase was evident up to 10th week of gestation. After that, they reached a plateau and remained stable. These findings indicate that telomerase activity remains high during the fetal stage, suggesting high replicative capacity of FSCs and their considerable potential for transplantation therapies. These findings, however, are preliminary only due to small sample size and require further evaluation.
Highlights
Various stem cell-based therapies have received increasing attention regarding their utility in medical applications [1, 2]
Of the eight fetuses studied, only one showed a significant loss in telomere length (TL) with age, while one demonstrated a significant increase in TL and six showed changes which were below the detection limit at late age points than at early ones. These findings suggest that dynamics of TL during human fetal development is quite complicated and considerable uncertainty exists in this research field
The trend to increase of TL and telomerase activity with gestational age was evident from Figure 2, where boxand-whisker plots for two-week periods of gestation are shown
Summary
Various stem cell-based therapies have received increasing attention regarding their utility in medical applications [1, 2]. All cell types used in this procedure share common functional features such as high self-renewal capability and high potential to generate differentiated cell progenitors of specific lineages both in vitro and in vivo after transplantation in the host [3]. Due to these properties, stem cells are capable of regenerating different human tissues damaged by disease, injury, or aging. The intermediate position of FSCs between embryonic and adult stem cells makes them ideal candidates for reprogramming to a pluripotent state Their differentiation potential is greater than that in adult stem cells, and they are more tissue-specific than embryonic cells.
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