Somaieh Kazemnejad
Avicenna Research Institute
Iran
Title: Menstrual blood derived stem cells as a renewable source of adult stem cells: Features and advantages
Biography
Biography: Somaieh Kazemnejad
Abstract
Menstrual blood derived stem cells (MenSCs) can be easily obtained from women’s menstrual blood in a non-invasive technique without ethical issues of other stem cell types. These multipotent cells have the ability to differentiate into various functional cells, including osteocytes, adipocytes, cardiomyocytes, respiratory epithelial cells, neurocytes, myocytes, endothelial cells, pancreatic cells and hepatocytes. No evidence of tumor and ectopic formation, or any immune response has been demonstrated after being transplanted into animal models. To determine whether MenSCs outline common features with bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs) or have source-specific peculiarities, we have done a head-to-head comparison of MenSCs with BMSCs in aspect of immunophenotyping, proliferation and differentiation characteristics. The evidence presented here narrates MenSCs are unique stem cell population with higher rate of proliferation and different trans-differentiation potential compared to BMSCs. Probably, it can be attributed to the particular immunophenotypic pattern and special signaling molecules involving in MenSCs development. In addition, we reviewed the possibilities of using MenSCs for diagnosis of diseases and as a novel alternative to current cell sources for cell-based therapies of neurological disorders, myocardial infarction, type I diabetes mellitus, liver cirrhosis, etc. Therefore, this study presents broad insights about possible advantages of MenSCs and their safety/efficacy profile for clinical applications. Key words: Menstrual blood-derived stem cells (MenSCs), Regenerative medicine, cell therapy