Amniotic fluid stem cell therapy for lung disease

Abstract

Amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSC), a unique multipotent stem cell population, have demonstrated significant experimental promise for the treatment of lung injury and disease as well as for de novo tissue engineering. Furthermore, the translation of experimental models, to clinical endpoints in the lung, present a litany of distinct challenges that AFSC have demonstrated the potential to address. With a minimum of 40 phenotypically distinct cell populations, limited regenerative capacity, 23 architecturally and physiologically diverse functional regions and the etiology of many lung diseases and disorders poorly understood, the respiratory system itself is perhaps one of the most challenging systems to treat. This chapter examines some of the challenges posed by the respiratory system, AFSC-based therapy for the treatment lung disease, and the future prospects of this stem cell population within the context of the lung.