Abstract:
The present invention relates to a stem cell source derived from a fetal cartilage tissue and a cellular therapeutic agent comprising the same. The present invention relates to a development of a stem cell source using fetal tissue derived cells, which have less restriction in ethics than the existing known embryonic stem cell, facilitate the control of differentiation, and have more excellent proliferative performance and differentiating performance than adult stem cells. According to the present invention, the cells isolated from the fetal cartilage tissue express a surface antigen specific to embryonic stem cells, such as SSEA-4, and a transcription factor specific to embryonic stem cells, such as Oct4, and also express surface antigens of mesenchymal stem cells, such as Stro-1, CD29, CD90, and CD105. The cells derived from the fetal cartilage tissue are more excellent in the cell proliferative performance and the differentiating performance into various cell tissues than adult stem cells, and thus can be used as a new stem cell source for regenerating damaged tissues. Particularly, the cells derived from the fetal cartilage tissue were verified to form no tumors when being transplanted under the skin of immunosuppressive mice (nude mice), and can be transplanted in the human body at high safety.
Abstract:
The present invention relates to a composition for preventing or treating immune disease comprising human fetal cartilage-derived cells which can control and adjust an immune reaction generated from tissue transplantation. More specifically, the human fetal cartilage-derived cells do not cause immune reaction, control proliferation of activated lymphocytes, control the expression of cytokines in an immune system generated from the activated lymphocytes, and have remarkable proliferation ability and differentiation potential to various cell tissues compared to adult stem cells, thereby being practically used as an immunomodulator for controlling the immune reaction which can be caused from the regeneration of damaged tissues and the tissue transplantation.