Human fallopian tubes are rich in mesenchymal stem cells and could be a new source of highly sought-after stem cells. A University of Sao Paulo, Brazil research team found that human fallopian tubes removed from fertile women of child bearing age during hysterectomies are rich in mesenchymal stem cells.
The Journal of Translational Medicine reports the team isolated and grew these cells in a laboratory and differentiated them into muscle, fat, cartilage and bone cell lines without producing problems in the cell chromosomes. Other studies previously have also shown success with isolating and differentiating mesenchymal stem cells harvested from umbilical cords, dental pulp and body fat.