Amniotic fluid contains multipotent cells and could be a source of stem cells for clinical use. Amniotic fluid cells (AFCs) are made up of a heterogeneous population of fetal cells that can be retrieved during pregnancy without ethical concerns as it is a standard clinical procedure. Studies of proliferation, multipotent marker expression, differentiation, and gene expression were performed after culturing with dexamethasone, valproic acid, and magnesium sulfate. There were correlations between known drug effects on the human fetus and changes seen in human AFCs in culture, as well as previously undescribed observations in neural and chondrogenic inducibility. Gene expression profiles confirmed these observations. AFC culture may provide a novel method to evaluate pharmacological agents before clinical use in pregnancy.
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