The present invention relates to a method of cultivating stem/progenitor cells of the amniotic membrane of umbilical cord that comprises obtaining a tissue explant from the amniotic membrane of umbilical cord and cultivating the tissue explant in suitable cultivation media and cultivation conditions over a suitable period of time. The method may include isolating the stem/progenitor cells from the tissue cultures. The stem cells may be epithelial or mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells. The isolated stem cell cells can have embryonic stem cell-like properties and can be used for various therapeutic purposes.

The invention is directed to methods for treating nervous system injury and disease, in particular traumatic brain injury and degenerative nervous system disease. Such methods utilize novel compositions, including but not limited to trophic factor-secreting extraembryonic cells (herein referred to as TSE cells), including, but not limited to, amnion-derived multipotent progenitor cells (herein referred to as AMP cells) and conditioned media derived therefrom (herein referred to as amnion-derived cellular cytokine solution or ACCS), each alone or in combination with each other and/or other agents.

The present invention provides compositions and methods of using placental stem cells that originate from a post-partum placenta with conventional cord blood compositions or other stem or progenitor cells. The placental stem cells can be used alone or in a mixture with other stem cell populations. In accordance with the present invention, the placental stem cells may be mixed with other stem cell populations, including but not limited to, umbilical cord blood, fetal and neonatal hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells, human stem cells and progenitor cells derived from bone marrow. The placental stem cells and the mixed populations of placental stem cells and stem cells have a multitude of uses and applications, including but not limited to, therapeutic uses for transplantation and treatment and prevention of disease, and diagnostic and research uses.

A method for making an acellular human amnion-derived composition configured for therapeutic use is disclosed and generally includes the steps: obtaining amniotic membrane tissue; testing the amniotic membrane tissue for pathogens; washing the amniotic membrane tissue; manually removing blood-containing chorion tissue from the amniotic membrane tissue decellularizing the amniotic membrane tissue with xeno-free enzymes; collecting amniotic cells from the decellularized amniotic membrane tissue; seeding the amniotic cells for culture into xeno-free media formulated for mesenchymal stem cells; growing the amniotic cells to a specified confluency; collecting conditioned media; and freezing the collected conditioned media; wherein the method further includes irradiating the conditioned media.

Provided herein are isolated neural stem cells and methods of making neural stem cells from human trophoblast stem cells. The isolated neural stem cells can be immune privileged and express one or more protein(s). Also provided are methods for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases using suitable preparations comprising the isolated neural stem cells.

An isolated biological stem cell or a set of biological stem cells that include human mesenchymal stem cell line 120816CT, deposited under ATCC Accession number PTA-124321, and differentiated into at least one type of cell selected from the group: neural stem cells, nephron progenitor cells, cardiomyocytes, neurons, glial cells, and vascular endothelial cells. The neurons comprise cholinergic neurons or dopaminergic neurons. A method of treating at least one human physical condition is also disclosed. The method includes injecting a patient with stem cell line 120816 CT to treat osteoarthritis, tendonitis, herniated disc, ligament damage, acute and chronic kidney disease and injury, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal cord injury, other skeletal muscular disorders, Lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, Graft-versus host disease, liver dysfunction or diseases, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, myocardial ischemia, heart failure, coronary artery disease, and other disorders characterized by inflammation.

The present invention relates to a conditioned medium (CM) which is obtained by culturing, in a liquid culture medium, placental mesenchymal stem cells isolated from the placental tissue of pregnant women who not affected by preeclampsia. The conditioned medium of the present invention includes at least IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1 proteins. The conditioned medium of the present invention is effective for the therapeutic treatment of preeclampsia.

The invention encompasses methods for increasing genetic progress in livestock, and for genetic dissemination, including the use of amniocentesis to obtain fetal amniocytes for use in genomic evaluation and cloning.

The presently disclosed subject matter provides a microfluidic device that can simulate capillary blood flow on a fetal side of the device and pooled blood on a maternal side of the device (i.e., intervillous space). The microfluidic device can reconstitute the maternal-fetal interface, can expand the capabilities of cell culture models, and can provide an alternative to current maternal-fetal transfer models.

Described herein are methods of preparing human amniotic membrane tissue grafts derived from the placenta. The grafts are composed of three layers as seen in the amniotic membrane in utero. These grafts are processed using physiologic solutions, lyophilized and terminal sterilized (via gamma irradiation in a frozen state) that thereby preserves the graft in such a manner as to retain the naturally occurring biological properties of the amniotic membrane and offer a sterile graft for transplantation. By dehydration via lyophilization and terminal sterilization in a frozen state, the graft has the advantage of storage at ambient temperatures for prolonged periods of time prior to transplantation.