Institute of Medical Genetics, Center for Pathobiochemistry and Genetics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Curr Stem Cell Res Ther. 2023;18(1):7-16. doi: 10.2174/1574888X16666211210143640.
In the last two decades, fetal amniotic fluid stem cells progressively attracted attention in the context of both basic research and the development of innovative therapeutic concepts. They exhibit broadly multipotent plasticity with the ability to differentiate into cells of all three embryonic germ layers and low immunogenicity. They are convenient to maintain, highly proliferative, genomically stable, non-tumorigenic, perfectly amenable to genetic modifications, and do not raise ethical concerns. However, it is important to note that among the various fetal amniotic fluid cells, only c-Kit+ amniotic fluid stem cells represent a distinct entity showing the full spectrum of these features. Since amniotic fluid additionally contains numerous terminally differentiated cells and progenitor cells with more limited differentiation potentials, it is of highest relevance to always precisely describe the isolation procedure and characteristics of the used amniotic fluid-derived cell type. It is of obvious interest for scientists, clinicians, and patients alike to be able to rely on up-todate and concisely separated pictures of the utilities as well as the limitations of terminally differentiated amniotic fluid cells, amniotic fluid-derived progenitor cells, and c-Kit+ amniotic fluid stem cells, to drive these distinct cellular models towards as many individual clinical applications as possible.
在过去的二十年中，胎儿羊膜干细胞在基础研究和创新治疗概念的发展方面逐渐引起了人们的关注。它们具有广泛的多能性可塑性，能够分化为所有三个胚胎胚层的细胞，并且免疫原性低。它们易于维持、高度增殖、基因组稳定、非致瘤性、完全适合基因修饰，并且不会引起伦理问题。然而，值得注意的是，在各种胎儿羊膜细胞中，只有 c-Kit+羊膜干细胞是一种具有完整特征的独特实体。由于羊水还含有许多终末分化细胞和分化潜能有限的祖细胞，因此，精确描述所使用的羊水来源细胞类型的分离过程和特性至关重要。科学家、临床医生和患者都希望能够依靠最新的、简洁的图像来了解终末分化羊水细胞、羊水来源祖细胞和 c-Kit+羊膜干细胞的用途和局限性，以便将这些不同的细胞模型尽可能多地应用于各个临床应用中。
