title: Congenital anomalies: treatment options based on amniotic fluid-derived stem cells.
abstract: Over the past decade, amniotic fluid-derived stem cells have emerged as a novel, experimental approach for the treatment of a wide variety of congenital anomalies diagnosed either in utero or postnatally. There are a number of unique properties of amniotic fluid stem cells that have allowed it to become a major research focus. These include the relative ease of accessing amniotic fluid cells in a minimally invasive fashion by amniocentesis as well as the relatively rich population of progenitor cells obtained from a small aliquot of fluid. Mesenchymal stem cells, c-kit positive stem cells, as well as induced pluripotent stem cells have all been derived from human amniotic fluid in recent years. This article gives a pediatric surgeon's perspective on amniotic fluid stem cell therapy for the management of congenital anomalies. The current status in the use of amniotic fluid-derived stem cells, particularly as they relate as substrates in tissue engineering-based applications, is described in various animal models. A roadmap for further study and eventual clinical application is also proposed.
authors.affiliation: Section of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. shaunkun@umich.edu
authors.forename: Shaun M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kunisaki
mesh_terms: D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000166:cytology*; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D057905:Stem Cell Research; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000639:trends*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*