Progress in studies on the characteristics of human amnion mesenchymal cells

The amniotic membrane (AM) in humans is the innermost fetal membrane and is composed of amnion mesenchymal cells (hAMCs) and amnion epithelial cells (hAECs). The former are derived from the extra-embryonic mesoderm of the primitive streak, and the latter from the fetal ectoderm. Numerous studies have shown that both hAMCs and hAECs display stem cell characteristics. In this review, we examine the progress made in understanding the characteristics of hAMCs, including information on the structure and function of AM and hAMCs, their immunological features, and the pluripotency of hAMCs.