Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Stem Cell Research Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;Pediatrics / Children's Health;Biology / Biochemistry Article Date: 09 Jul 2012 - 9:00 PDT
Current ratings for: Stem Cells From Amniotic Fluid
Scientists from Imperial College London, and University College London Institute of Child Health, and colleagues, said their discovery means it may be possible to store stem cells from donated amniotic fluid for clinical and research use, offering a much needed alternative to the limited supply of embryonic stem cells.
"These cells have a wide range of potential applications in treatments and in research. We are particularly interested in exploring their use in genetic diseases diagnosed early in life or other diseases such as cerebral palsy," said co-senior author Dr Pascale Guillot, from the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial.
Stem cells hold promise for regenerative medicine because they have the potential to become virtually any cell in the body. The current "gold standard" of human stem cells is the human embryonic stem cell (hESC), which is harvested from human embryos.
However, researchers and clinicians are keen to find alternatives to hESCs because of ethical concerns about using human embryos and also because of their limited availability.
Previous studies have shown it is possible to use other types of cell and, by introducing extra genes, often using viruses as carriers, make them almost as versatile or pluripotent as hESCs. For instance, scientists have reprogrammed human skin cells to behave like embryonic stem cells.
But this way of making induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is not efficient and there is also a risk that the DNA disruption that occurs (something the authors attribute to "random integration of the reprogramming transgenes into the host genome") will lead to tumors.
This new study is the first to make iPSCs without having to insert foreign genetic material into the cells.
Guillot and colleagues also found the iPSCs they made from amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSCs) showed some of the characteristics normally only seen in embryonic stem cells, that are not present in iPSCs made from adult cells.
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Stem Cells From Amniotic Fluid