Isolation of Amniotic Epithelial Stem Cells

Abstract Many of the cell types that can be isolated from placental tissues retain phenotypic plasticity that makes them an interesting source of cells for regenerative medicine. Several procedures for the isolation of stem cells from different parts of the placenta have been reported. This unit describes a detailed and simple protocol for the selective isolation of amniotic epithelial cells from human term placenta without disturbing the mesenchymal layer. We also introduce a simple density separation technique for the enrichment of the population for SSEA‐4 positive cells. Curr. Protoc. Stem Cell Biol . 12:1E.3.1‐1E.3.10. © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.