Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Placenta as a new source of seeking mesenchymal stem cells has been paid great attention. To harvest cells from amnion layer of placenta has wide application prospects due to its advantages, such as extensive source and no ethical limitation.
OBJECTIVE: To study the method of in vitro isolating human amnion mesenchymal stem cells, and the ability of differentiating into neuron-like cells.
METHODS: Mesenchymal stem cells were harvested and cultured from amnion by enzyme digestion method. The surface marker and purity of human amnion mesenchymal stem cells were measured by uniform morphology and flow cytometry. The human amnion mesenchymal stem cells were induced to differentiate using DMEM-LG+20 g/L DMSO+100 µmol/L BHA+ 10 μg/L basic fibroblast growth factor. The differentiated cells were identified with immunofluorescence staining.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Mesenchymal stem cells could be successfully harvested from amnion. Cells grew and adhered to the wall, and could proliferate and subculture in a short period in vitro. Amnion mesenchymal stem cells had similar surface markers to bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, and could differentiate into neuron-like cells in vitro. Amnion mesenchymal stem cells were positive for glial fibrillary acid protein and neuron specific enolase. Results have suggested that amnion mesenchymal stem cells could be induced to differentiate into neuron-like cells and amnion tissue could be a novel source in stem cells study and for nerve tissue diseases.