Kidney cells from amniotic fluid obtained from cesarean section at delivery

Amniotic fluid can be routinely obtained without harming the mother or the fetus. Researchers have previously demonstrated that amniotic fluid contains mesenchymal stem cells with great differentiation and regenerative potential. Importantly, amniotic fluid stem cells are immune privileged, non-carcinogenic and their potential clinical applications such as cell-replacement therapies to treat bone defects, ischemic stroke, bladder dysfunction and pulmonary disease have been described. However, the origin of amniotic fluid stem cells is not understood.

A collaborative study by Prof. Dr. James Adjaye of the Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine and multi-institutional collaborators has been published in the journal—Stem Cell Research and Therapy, showing for the first time that human amniotic fluid contains mesenchymal stem cells of kidney origin. The numbers of these cells increased with gestational time, meaning amniotic fluid obtained during delivery had the highest number simply because of the increased volume of amniotic fluid (composed of fetal urine) bathing the fetus at this stage.

Lead authors Md Shaifur Rahman and Lucas-Sebastian Spitzhorn write, “The kidney-related features of amniotic fluid stem cells are of high interest as a promising cell source for research on nephrogenesis, modelling kidney-related diseases, nephrotoxicity testing and drug screening.”

The derivation of 3-D kidney organoids directly from these cells without the need of induced pluripotent stem cells or renal cells cultured from kidney biopsies will add valuable insights into how the kidney develops.

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