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.
Highlights
Cell therapy is an efficient way to abate patients’ suffering and to ameliorate a wide range of diseases and injuries to some degree
The placenta is a temporary organ that forms during pregnancy and plays a pivotal role in exchanging gas, nutrients, and waste between the fetus and maternal blood, establishing a suspended and immune-privileged environment for fetal growth and secreting certain hormones that are essential for gestation
Clinical research has indicated that the implantation of human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAESCs) or amniotic tissue in patients does not trigger an immune rejection, which might indicate their potential use as a solution to the graft-rejection-issue common in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)
Summary
Cell therapy is an efficient way to abate patients’ suffering and to ameliorate a wide range of diseases and injuries to some degree. There are many potential cell sources for regenerative medicine, such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Methods of isolation and differentiation of multiple kinds of somatic stem cells have been further established to limit the tumorigenicity of stem cell therapy, ethical concerns and a lack of large-scale cell supply limits their clinical application [12]. As placenta-derived cells, these stem cells have common advantages, such as an abundant supply, minimal ethical issues, and low DNA damage, which make them an ideal cell source for cell transplantation and regenerative medicine in the clinic. The unique characteristics of hAESCs, non-tumorigenicity and little ethical concerns, are their major advantages compared with ESCs and iPSCs [15,16] and make them attractive for clinical application. We summarize the clinical trials reported so far involving hAESCs and discuss future challenges for amnion-membrane-derived stem cell research
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