Institute of Medical Genetics, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Strasse 10, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Amino Acids. 2012 May;42(5):1591-6. doi: 10.1007/s00726-011-0929-8. Epub 2011 May 15.
In 2003, human amniotic fluid has been shown to contain stem cells expressing Oct-4, a marker for pluripotency. This finding initiated a rapidly growing and very promising new stem cell research field. Since then, amniotic fluid stem (AFS) cells have been demonstrated to harbour the potential to differentiate into any of the three germ layers and to form three-dimensional aggregates, so-called embryoid bodies, known as the principal step in the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells. Marker selection and minimal dilution approaches allow the establishment of monoclonal AFS cell lineages with high proliferation potential. AFS cells have a lower risk for tumour development and do not raise the ethical issues of embryonic stem cells. Compared to induced pluripotent stem cells, AFS cells do not need exogenic treatment to induce pluripotency, are chromosomal stable and do not harbour the epigenetic memory and accumulated somatic mutations of specific differentiated source cells. Compared to adult stem cells, AFS can be grown in larger quantities and show higher differentiation potential. Accordingly, in the recent past, AFS became increasingly accepted as an optimal tool for basic research and probably also for specific cell-based therapies. Here, we review the current knowledge on the neurogenic differentiation potential of AFS cells.
2003 年，研究表明人类羊水含有表达多能性标志物 Oct-4 的干细胞。这一发现开创了一个快速发展且极具前景的新干细胞研究领域。此后，羊水干细胞 (AFS) 已被证明具有分化为三个胚层并形成三维聚集物（即所谓的胚状体）的潜力，这是多能干细胞分化的主要步骤。标记物选择和最小稀释方法可建立具有高增殖潜力的单克隆 AFS 细胞系。AFS 细胞发生肿瘤的风险较低，且不存在胚胎干细胞引发的伦理问题。与诱导多能干细胞相比，AFS 细胞无需外源处理即可诱导多能性，具有染色体稳定性，且不存在特定分化来源细胞的表观遗传记忆和累积体细胞突变。与成体干细胞相比，AFS 可大量生长且具有更高的分化潜力。因此，在最近一段时间，AFS 逐渐被接受为基础研究的理想工具，可能也是特定基于细胞的治疗方法的理想工具。在这里，我们综述了关于 AFS 细胞的神经发生分化潜能的现有知识。
