Pluripotency in the amnion

Pittsburgh, PA -

It has previously been described that anmiotic stem cells can be isolated and contain numerous regenerative properties. In a recent paper (Miki et al. Identification of stem cell marker-positive cells by immunofluorescence in term human amnion. J Reprod Immunol. 2007 May 8) the characterization of stem cells from the amnion was performed using immunohistochemistry.

The investigators reported expression several markers of embryonic stem cells in the amnion, these included SSEA-3, SSEA-4, TRA 1-60 and TRA 1-81.

These data suggest that amniotic derived stem cells may represent a very early undifferentiated cell type that is useful for generation of various types of cell therapy solutions.