Rabbit amniotic fluid as a potential alternative source of broadly multipotent stem cells

Abstract

A small animal model such as rabbit to serve as a biological model for in vivo tissue engineering experiments, would be desirable. The aim of our preliminary study was to describe a method of isolation of rabbit multipotent stem cells from the amniotic fluid and to examine the phenotype of these cells using flow cytometry. New Zealand White rabbit amniotic fluid was mixed with the culture medium and transferred into a T25 tissue culture flask. Analysis of rabbit stem cells was realized using specific antibodies and flow cytometry (BD FACSCanto II flow cytometry analyzer). Our preliminary resutls show rapid proliferation of amniotic fluid-derived adherent cells. We hypothesize that these cells have a broadly multipotent mesenchymal stem cell phenotype basing on their morphology and the expression of CD44. Furthermore, these cells can potentially serve as an excellent and amenable cell source for reprogramming experiments into naive induced pluripotent stem cells.