Human fetal mesenchymal stem cells for prenatal and postnatal transplantation

Abstract

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) isolated from early-mid-gestation fetal tissue are highly proliferative and capable of differentiation towards fat, bone, cartilage, muscle and oligodendrocytes. In addition, these cells exhibit several key clinical advantages over their adult counterparts, including increased proliferation capacity, greater plasticity and unique immunological characteristics. More recently, fetal MSC have been shown to home to and rescue degenerative tissue, raising the possibility of using fetal MSC for regenerative therapeutics. Consequently, fetal MSC have been studied for a range of potential clinical applications including stem cell or gene therapy for the correction of genetic deficiencies, tissue engineering and the management of immune disorders.