ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Human amnion epithelial cells (hAECs) have many merits that embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells do not have, such as no tumorigenicity, rich sources, easy to obtain, low immunogenicity and no medical ethics limit. Therefore, hAECs are expected to be important seed cells for clinical transplantation. OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of hAECs transplantation labeled with carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) in a mouse model of liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride. METHODS: hAECs from the human amniotic membrane were collected using enzymatic digestion, and morphology of cells was observed. Expression of keratin 19 in hAECs was detected by immunocytochemistry. Model of liver damage was made in mice by intraperitoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride.Then,CFSE-labeled hAECs were injected into the liver damage mice via tail vein.Histopathological changes and liver function in mice were observed at 7 and 30 days after transplantation, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The high-purity hAECs were successfully isolated, which expressed keratin 19 shown by immunocytochemical staining. Frozen sections of immunoflrorescence showed that hAECs could be moved to the damaged liver, and exhibited remarkable repair effects on the liver function and histopathology in mice. These findings indicate that hAECs can be used for xenotransplantation and function to promote physiological recovery from liver injury, thereby providing experimental evidence for liver repair with cell transplantation.