title: Fetal stem cells and skeletal muscle regeneration: a therapeutic approach.
abstract: More than 40% of the body mass is represented by muscle tissue, which possesses the innate ability to regenerate after damage through the activation of muscle-specific stem cells, namely satellite cells. Muscle diseases, in particular chronic degenerative states of skeletal muscle such as dystrophies, lead to a perturbation of the regenerative process, which causes the premature exhaustion of satellite cell reservoir due to continuous cycles of degeneration/regeneration. Nowadays, the research is focused on different therapeutic approaches, ranging from gene and cell to pharmacological therapy, but still there is no definitive cure in particular for genetic muscle disease. Keeping this in mind, in this article, we will give special consideration to muscle diseases and the use of fetal derived stem cells as a new approach for therapy. Cells of fetal origin, from cord blood to placenta and amniotic fluid, can be easily obtained without ethical concern, expanded and differentiated in culture, and possess immune-modulatory properties. The in vivo approach in animal models can be helpful to study the mechanism underneath the operating principle of the stem cell reservoir, namely the niche, which holds great potential to understand the onset of muscle pathologies.
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza , Padova , Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pozzobon
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza , Padova , Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Franzin
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica Città della Speranza , Padova , Italy.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piccoli
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital , London , UK.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Coppi
keywords: amniotic fluid; cell therapy; cord blood; fetal cells; muscle dystrophies; placenta