In Utero Amniotic Fluid Stem Cell Therapy Protects Against Myelomeningocele via Spinal Cord Coverage and Hepatocyte Growth Factor Secretion.

ABSTRACT: Despite the poor prognosis associated with myelomeningocele (MMC), the options for prenatal treatments are still limited. Recently, fetal cellular therapy has become a new option for treating birth defects, although the therapeutic effects and mechanisms associated with such treatments remain unclear. The use of human amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSCs) is ideal with respect to immunoreactivity and cell propagation. The prenatal diagnosis of MMC during early stages of pregnancy could allow for the ex vivo proliferation and modulation of autologous hAFSCs for use in utero stem cell therapy. Therefore, we investigated the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of hAFSCs-based treatment for fetal MMC. hAFSCs were isolated as CD117-positive cells from the amniotic fluid of 15- to 17-week pregnant w

SUBMITTER: Abe Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6811697 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature