CULTURE OF HUMAN AMNIOTIC FLUID STEM CELLS IN ED COLLAGEN MATRIX
D. A. Davydova,1,* E. A. Vorotelyak,1 E. E. Bragina,2 V. V. Terskikh,1 A. V. Vasiliev 1, 3
1 N. K. Koltzov Institute of Development Biology RAS, Moscow, 2 A. N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology of M. V. Lomonosov
Moscow State University, 3 and 3 M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,
Department of Embryology;
* e-mail: davydovad@gmail.com
Most of the researchers attribute amniotic fluid stem cells (AF SCs) to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). However, AF SCs express both mesenchymal and epithelial markers, which
distinguishes them from postnatal MSCs. Cultivation in the three-dimensional matrix provides a different look at the nature of these cells. We showed that, in 3D collagen gel, AF SCs form
epithelial structures (tubules and cysts). Active contraction of the gel during the first days of cultivation, which is characteristic if mesenchymal cells, does not occur. Electron microscopic
study showed that typical to epithelial cell adherent junctions are formed between AF SCs. On the other hand, AF SCs continue to express MSCs markers during cultivation in the gel. Thus,
AF SCs may not be true mesenchymal cells because they can display properties of epithelial cells. Perhaps these cells undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition, the process which actively
takes place during embryogenesis.
Key words: amniotic fluid, collagen gel, stem cells, 3D matrix
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