Perinatal placental tissues are a rich source of human extracellular matrix proteins, growth factors and stem cells with demonstrated potential for use in a variety of therapeutic applications. Due to their placental origin, these tissues have unique biological properties, including angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, antifibrotic, antimicrobial and immunoprivileged properties. In addition, as a temporary organ, the placenta is usually disposed of as medical waste and thus represents a readily available, inexpensive, "unlimited" and ethically acceptable source of raw materials. Although some of these tissues, such as the amniotic membrane and the umbilical cord, are used in clinical practice, most of them are still hardly researched nor used in practice. The aim of this review is to outline and highlight the most relevant applications of perinatal tissues as a source of biomaterials and stem cells in the therapeutically promising fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM). It will also show how these approaches can help overcome the lack of suitable scaffold materials. It will also show how these approaches can be used to overcome the lack of suitable scaffold materials and cell sources that currently limit the translation of TERM strategies into clinical applications.
Authors: Inês A. Deus, João F. Mano, Catarina A. Custódio; Department of
Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193
Aveiro, Portugal
Source: Acta Biomaterialia 2020, 110, 1-14
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The placenta is a temporary organ that is discarded as medical waste after birth and at the same time one of the most interesting organs with promising diverse cell and tissue sources for use in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, both in experimental and clinical settings. The placenta has unique intrinsic properties because it has to fulfill many different roles during pregnancy: it is formed by cells from two individuals (mother and fetus). It contributes to the development and growth of a "non-autologous/alien" (allogeneic) fetus and has two independent and interacting circulatory systems. Various progenitor and stem cell types, as well as different perinatal tissues, can be isolated from the placenta, making it a particularly interesting candidate for use in cell therapy and regenerative medicine. The primary source of perinatal progenitor cells is umbilical cord blood. Cord blood has been known as a source of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells since 1974. Umbilical cord blood stored in biobanks has been used for over 30 years to treat various hematologic and immunologic diseases. Other perinatal tissues that are routinely discarded as medical waste contains other cells with high potential therapeutic value. In fact, mesenchymal stromal cells are most commonly used in clinical trials of perinatal cell therapies. In this review article, we look at the different perinatal tissues and the different isolated perinatal stem cells in turn, with their phenotypic characteristics and the preclinical use of these cells in numerous pathologies. An overview of the clinical applications of perinatal cells is also given, with particular emphasis on the clinical studies leading to the treatment of COVID-19 related pneumonia. In addition, we describe the use of new technologies in the field of perinatal stem cells and the future directions and challenges of this fascinating and rapidly advancing field of perinatal cells and regenerative medicine.
Authors: Paz de la Torre and Ana I. Flores, Grupo de Medicina
Regenerativa, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital 12 de Octubre
(imas12), Avda.
Source: Genes 2021, 12, 6
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