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Overview: Human amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSC) rapidly expand and differentiate into many types of cell. They have a low risk for causing tumours. They can easily be collected at prenatal diagnosis or at birth. We are establishing an experimental pathway for biobanking human AFSCs for clinical use under GMP conditions. In the future, we hope to test their therapeutic efficacy for intestinal diseases such as Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) a common serious disease of preterm born neonates.
Design: We are processing and charactering stem cells in the human amniotic fluid for growth yield, population purity, cellular potency, and viability, using standard culture conditions and xeno-free (animal-cell free) culture conditions.
The roadmap from AFSC biobanking to NEC treatment.
Team: Eleni Antoniadou, Durrgah Ramachandra, Sindhu Subramaniam
PI: Dr Anna David, Professor Paolo De Coppi, Professor Mark Lowdell
Funding: Rosetrees Trust, Stoneygate Trust, NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital UCL Institute of Child Health Biomedical Research Centre
