Placenta as a reservoir of stem cells: an underutilized resource?

Both embryonic and adult tissues are sources of stem cells with therapeutic potential but with some limitations in the clinical practice such as ethical considerations, difficulty in obtaining and tumorigenicity. As an alternative, the placenta is a foetal tissue that can be obtained during gestation and at term, and it represents a reservoir of stem cells with various potential.

We reviewed the relevant literature concerning the main stem cells that populate the placenta.

Recently, the placenta has become useful source of stem cells that offer advantages in terms of proliferation and plasticity when compared with adult cells and permit to overcome the ethical and safety concern inherent in embryonic stem cells. In addition, the placenta has the advantage of containing epithelia, haematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells. These stem cells possess immunosuppressive properties and have the capacity of suppress in vivo inflammatory responses.

Some studies describe a subpopulation of placenta stem cells expressing pluripotency markers, but for other studies, it is not clear whether pluripotent stem cells are present during gestation beyond the first few weeks. Particularly, the expression of some pluripotency markers such as SSEA-3, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81 has been reported by us, but not by others.

Placenta stem cells could be of great importance after delivery for banking for autologous and allogeneic applications. The beneficial effects of these cells may be due to secretion of bioactive molecules that act through paracrine actions promoting beneficial effects.

Understanding the role of placenta stem cells during pregnancy and their paracrine actions could help in the study of some diseases that affect the placenta during pregnancy.