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Menstrual Blood-Derived Stem Cells: In Vitro and In Vivo Characterization of Functional Effects

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Part of the Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology book series (AEMB, volume 951)

Abstract

Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that menstrual blood stands as a viable source of stem cells. Menstrual blood-derived stem cells (MenSCs) are morphologically and functionally similar to cells directly extracted from the endometrium, and present dual expression of mesenchymal and embryonic cell markers, thus becoming interesting tools for regenerative medicine. Functional reports show higher proliferative and self-renewal capacities than bone marrow-derived stem cells, as well as successful differentiation into hepatocyte-like cells, glial-like cells, endometrial stroma-like cells, among others. Moreover, menstrual blood stem cells may be used with increased efficiency in reprogramming techniques for induced Pluripotent Stem cell (iPS) generation. Experimental studies have shown successful treatment of stroke, colitis, limb ischemia, coronary disease, Duchenne’s muscular atrophy and streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes animal models with MenSCs. As we envision an off-the-shelf product for cell therapy, cryopreserved MenSCs appear as a feasible clinical product. Clinical applications, although still very limited, have great potential and ongoing studies should be disclosed in the near future.

Keywords

Endometrium Regenerative medicine Endometrial stem cells Menstrual blood stem cells Pluripotent stem cells Immunomodulation Stem cell therapy 

Abbreviations

MenSCs

Menstrual blood-derived stem cells

iPS

Induced Pluripotent Stem cell

MHC

Major histocompatibility complex

ERCs

Endometrial regenerative cells

hTERT

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase

MMPs

Matrix metalloproteases

VEGF

Vascular endothelial growth factor

BDNF

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor

DOPAC

Dopamine and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid

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Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mr. Igor Passioura for excellent technical assistance in the manuscript preparation.

Conflict of Interest

PRS and CVB are founders and/or consultants of Saneron-CCEL, and hold patents and patent applications on stem cells and their applications.

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© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Division of Clinical Immunology, Ribeirão Preto Medical SchoolUniversity of São PauloRibeirão PretoBrazil
  2. 2.Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair, Morsani College of MedicineUniversity of South FloridaTampaUSA

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