Introduction of Perinatal Tissue-Derived Stem Cells

Stem cells represent a population of cells with the potential applications including regenerative medicine and tissue engineering owing to their proliferation and differentiation ability. A wide variety of stem or progenitor cells, including adult bone marrow stem cells, endothelial progenitor cells, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), resident cardiac stem cells, and embryonic stem cells (ESCs), have been shown to have positive effects in preclinical studies and therefore hold promise for treating and curing debilitating and deadly diseases. Several of these types of stem cells have been tested in early-stage clinical trials, such as MSCs, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). However, ethical and technological issues have limited the applications of hESCs or iPSCs in this field. Perinatal tissue-derived stem cells have been isolated from the umbilical cord, Wharton’s jelly, placenta, amniotic membrane, and amniotic fluid, which are normally discarded as medical waste. This chapter will provide a general introduction of perinatal tissue-derived stem cells and their potential clinical application.