© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 235
A. Birbrair (ed.), Stem Cell Microenvironments and Beyond,
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 1041,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-69194-7_12
Chapter 12
Fetal Membranes-Derived Stem Cells
Microenvironment
Phelipe Oliveira Favaron and Maria Angelica Miglino
Abstract Recently, the regenerative medicine has been trying to congregate differ-
ent areas such as tissue engineering and cellular therapy, in order to offer effective
treatments to overcome several human and veterinary medical problems. In this
regard, fetal membranes have been proposed as a powerful source for obtainment of
multipotent stem cells with low immunogenicity, anti-inflammatory properties and
nontumorigenicity properties for the treatment of several diseases, including replac-
ing cells lost due to tissue injuries or degenerative diseases. Morpho-physiological
data have shown that fetal membranes, especially the yolk sac and amnion play
different functions according to the gestational period, which are direct related to
the features of the microenvironment that their cells are subject. The characteristics
of the microenvironment affect or controls important cellular events involved with
proliferation, division and maintenance of the undifferentiated stage or differentia-
tion, especially acting on the extracellular matrix components. Considering the
importance of the microenvironment and the diversity of embryonic and fetal
membrane- derived stem cells, this chapter will addressed advances in the isolation,
phenotyping, characteristics of the microenvironment, and applications of yolk sac
and amniotic membrane-derived stem cells for human and veterinary regenerative
medicine.
Keywords Yolk sac • Amnion • Amniotic membrane • Mesenchymal stem cells
- Extracellular matrix • Cell therapy
P.O. Favaron • M.A. Miglino (*)
Surgery Department, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science,
University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
e-mail: [email protected]