據(jù)一篇發(fā)表于Oncogene雜志的研究報告,，科學家首次證實羊水中的干細胞具有發(fā)育成特定細胞類型的潛能,。這意味著羊水干細胞或許能夠治療某些疾病的新方法。
Anthony Atala等人發(fā)現(xiàn)羊膜干細胞(amnion stem cells)能夠形成三維聚合體細胞——胚樣小體(embryoid bodies,EBs),，而該階段的細胞被認為可直接發(fā)育成人體所有類型的細胞,。
Atala的課題組目前正在對糖尿病和腎臟疾病中評估胚樣小體的治療潛能。在2007年,，該課題組曾報道在胚胎和羊水中成功分離出干細胞,。
在最新發(fā)表的這項研究中，課題組通過同樣的方法從羊水中獲得了另外兩種干細胞系,。然后研究人員測試這三種干細胞系形成胚樣小體的能力,。通過各種獨立的實驗方法，研究人員證實人類羊膜干細胞確實可以發(fā)育成胚樣小體,。
此外,，研究人員還在EBs中發(fā)現(xiàn)mTOR蛋白(絲氨酸/蘇氨酸蛋白激酶)，該蛋白可以調節(jié)EB形成,。研究人員稱該蛋白的發(fā)現(xiàn)或許有助于了解EB形成的分子機制,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Oncogene advance online publication 23 November 2009; doi: 10.1038/onc.2009.405
Embryoid body formation of human amniotic fluid stem cells depends on mTOR
A Valli1, M Rosner1, C Fuchs1, N Siegel1, C E Bishop2, H Dolznig1, U M?del3, W Feichtinger3, A Atala2 and M Hengstschl?ger1
1Department of Medical Genetics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
2Department of Urology and Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
3Wunschbabyzentrum, Lainzer Strae 6, Vienna, Austria
Human amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSCs) harbor high proliferative capacity and high differentiation potential and do not raise the ethical concerns associated with human embryonic stem cells. The formation of three-dimensional aggregates known as embryoid bodies (EBs) is the principal step in the differentiation of pluripotent embryonic stem cells. Using c-Kit-positive hAFSC lines, we show here that these stem cells harbor the potential to form EBs. As part of the two kinase complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is the key component of an important signaling pathway, which is involved in the regulation of cell proliferation, growth, tumor development and differentiation. Blocking intracellular mTOR activity through the inhibitor rapamycin or through specific small interfering RNA approaches revealed hAFSC EB formation to depend on mTORC1 and mTORC2. These findings demonstrate hAFSCs to be a new and powerful biological system to recapitulate the three-dimensional and tissue level contexts of in vivo development and identify the mTOR pathway to be essential for this process.
