Abstract:Human amniotic epithelial cells (HAECs) are isolated and extracted from placenta inner membrane and express embryonic stem cell surface markers.The HAECs are formed at 8th day from the epiblast after fertilization and possess multiple differentiation potentials. HAECs have the potential differentiation ability into all three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. HAECs promote therapeutic and preventive effects and especially play an important role in treatment of central nervous system diseases. These stem cells inhibit inflammatory reaction and release neurotrophic factors to support the function of neurons. HACEs also exhibit alleviative effect on animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), spinal cord injury (SCI), stroke, etc. The present review summarizes the recent advances of therapeutic approaches of hAECs on central nervous system diseases and explores their protective mechanisms.