Amniotic Fluid Derived Stem Cells for Cardiac Muscle Therapies

Many forms of pediatric and adult heart disease are accompanied by high morbidity and mortality, as the heart muscle has limited regenerative potential. Cell therapy has been proposed as a means to promote the regeneration of injured heart muscle. We have established lines of broad spectrum multipotent stem cells derived from primitive fetal cells present in human amniotic fluid (hAFS) cells (1). AFS cells offer several advantages: They are easy to isolate and grow (no feeder layers needed), are highly expansive including clonal growth and they can differentiate into all germ layers. In the current study, we demonstrate that AFS cells can differentiate into cardiac muscle cells and be used for cardiac tissue regeneration.