Development of A Novel Therapy for Neonatal Intractable Disease Using Autologous Amniotic Fluid Stem Cell Sheets

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K15536
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Embryonic/Neonatal medicine
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: Mamoru Tanaka 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 教授 (20207145)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 落合 大吾 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 講師 (80348713)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 羊水 / 幹細胞 / 創傷治癒 / 線維化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Fetal wounds before 24 weeks of gestation are known to heal without fibrotic scarring, and this characteristic is preserved beyond animal species. Therefore, we hypothesized that human amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFS) have more potential for anti-fibrosis than other mesenchymal stem cells. In addition, hAFS that have pre-differentiated into target cells, such as neurons and cardiomyocytes, could be used to create hAFS sheets.
In this study, we demonstrated that hAFS are multipotent and could be differentiated into neuronal cells and cardiomyocyte-like cells. Additionally, we successfully produced a cell sheet using hAFS and confirmed its formation and strong anti- fibrotic potential using a murine model. However, we were unable to create a pre-differentiated hAFS sheets.

Free Research Field

胎児医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

細胞工学技術の進歩により細胞シートを作成することが可能になった。細胞シートは、成人疾患には臨床応用が開始されているが、 新生児疾患ではほとんど検討されてこなかった。新生児にヒト羊水幹細胞（human amniotic fluid stem cells: hAFS）を用いた細胞治療を行う際、「頻回の細胞注射で生着する幹細胞数を増やす」方法が考えられる。しかし、新生児には負担が強いため、非侵襲的に幹細胞生着率を上げるツールとしてhAFS細胞シートの開発を試みた。我々は、hAFS細胞シート作成に成功し、その細胞シートは強力な抗線維化作用を持つことを動物実験で明らかにした。