title: Induced in vitro differentiation of pancreatic-like cells from human amnion-derived fibroblast-like cells.
abstract: There is growing evidence that the human amnion contains various types of stem cells. As amniotic tissue is readily available, it has the potential to be an important source of material for regenerative medicine. In the present study, we evaluated the potential of human amnion-derived fibroblast-like (HADFIL) cells to differentiate into pancreatic islet cells. Two HADFIL cell populations, derived from two different neonates, were analyzed. The expression of pancreatic cell-specific genes was examined before and after in vitro induction of cellular differentiation. We found that Pdx-1, Isl-1, Pax-4, and Pax-6 showed significantly increased expression following the induction of differentiation. In addition, immunostaining demonstrated that insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin were present in HADFIL cells following the induction of differentiation. These results indicate that HADFIL cell populations have the potential to differentiate into pancreatic islet cells. Although further studies are necessary to determine whether such in vitro-differentiated cells can function in vivo as pancreatic islet cells, these amniotic cell populations might be of value in therapeutic applications that require human pancreatic islet cells.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell Biology, Ishiwata Hospital, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamagawa
authors.forename: Isamu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ishiwata
authors.forename: Kahei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000650:Amnion / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D005934:Glucagon / Q000378:metabolism; D051538:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D053539:Keratin-19 / Q000378:metabolism; D010179:Pancreas / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051538:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-alpha; D007328:Insulin; D053539:Keratin-19; D013004:Somatostatin; D005934:Glucagon