TITLE:
Amniotic membrane as a potent source of stem cells and a matrix for engineering heart tissue
AUTHORS:
Julio Cesar Francisco, Ricardo Correa Cunha, Rossana Baggio Simeoni, Luiz Cesar Guarita-Souza, Reginaldo Justino Ferreira, Ana Carolina Irioda, Carolina Maria C. Oliveira Souza, Garikipati Venkata Naga Srikanth, Soniya Nityanand, Juan Carlos Chachques, Katherine Athayde Teixeira de Carvalho
KEYWORDS:
Amniotic Membrane; Heart; Tissue; Engineering; Stem Cells
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering,
Vol.6 No.12,
December
20,
2013
ABSTRACT: Existing therapies for the treatment of chronic heart
failure still have some limitations and there is a pressing need for the
development of new therapeutic modalities. The amniotic membrane has been used
for the treatment of various diseases, such as conjunctive defects; however,
the mechanisms behind its repair functions are still unclear. Regenerative medicine
is seeking newer alternatives and among them, biomaterials have emerged in
recent years for developing and manipulating molecules, cells, tissues or organs
grown in laboratories in order to replace human body parts. Many such materials
have been used for this purpose, either synthetically or biologically, in order
to provide new medical devices. This review provides a wider view of the
regeneration potential of the use of amniotic membrane as a potential biomaterial
to facilitate the implementation of new research in surgical procedures.
Amniotic membrane appears to be an alternative source of stem cells as well as
an excellent biomaterial for cell-based therapeutic applications in engineering
heart tissue.