Multipotent Stem Cells from Umbilical Cord: Cord Is Richer than Blood!

Abstract

The identification of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) sources that are easily obtainable is of utmost importance. Several studies have shown that MSCs could be isolated from umbilical cord (UC) units. However, the presence of MSCs in umbilical cord blood (UCB) is controversial. A possible explanation for the low efficiency of MSCs from UCB is the use of different culture conditions by independent studies. Here, we compared the efficiency in obtaining MSCs from unrelated paired UCB and UC samples harvested from the same donors. Samples were processed simultaneously, under the same culture conditions. Although MSCs from blood were obtained from only 1 of the 10 samples, we were able to isolate large amounts of multipotent MSCs from all UC samples, which were able to originate different cell lineages. Since the routine procedure in UC banks has been to store the blood and discard other tissues, such as the cord and/or placenta, we believe our results are of immediate clinical value. Furthermore, the possibility of originating different cell lines from the UC of neonates born with genetic defects may provide new cellular research models for understanding human malformations and genetic disorders, as well as the possibility of testing the effects of different therapeutic drugs. STEM CELLS 2008;26: 146 -150 Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.

Umbilical cord blood donation: public or private?

“…Reports of engraftment of lineage-specific, nonhematopoietic cells in recipients of UCBT raise the possibility that UCB contains rare embryonic-like cells or early, committed progenitor cells of nonhematopoietic lineages. 55 Additional properties of UCB cells include paracrine signaling, producing anti-inflammatory as well as pro-angiogenic and pro-neurogenic effects. Adaptation of UCBT to minimize the need for pretransplant chemotherapy will be necessary to reduce traditional transplantation risks.…”

Transplantation of umbilical cord–derived mesenchymal stem cells as a novel strategy to protect the central nervous system: technical aspects, preclinical studies, and clinical perspectives

“…Some groups have demonstrated the presence of MSCs in UCB, whereas others report that the UCB is not a rich source of MSCs (40)(41)(42)(43). The number of MSCs per UCB unit appears to be relatively low, as is their proliferation rate, and MSCs have been isolated from only a small percentage of UCB samples (44,45).…”

“…The number of MSCs per UCB unit appears to be relatively low, as is their proliferation rate, and MSCs have been isolated from only a small percentage of UCB samples (44,45). In this context, the UC is gaining increasing attention because it contains high amounts of MSCs that have been shown to be isolatable from 100% of the samples tested by several groups (27,42,45,46). Depending on the derivation protocol used, and the part of the UC from which they were isolated, various types of hUC-MSCs have been reported: UC matrix stem cells, UC perivascular cells, UC stromal cells, Wharton's jelly stem cells, cord-lining membrane MSCs, and UC-lining stem cells (5,20,30,(47)(48)(49).…”

Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells differentiate into epidermal-like cells using a novel co-culture technique

“…Primitive Wharton's jelly, surrounds the migrating embryonic blood island cells during their migration to the aorta-gonad mesonephros from the yolk sac region (Sadler 2004). Greater numbers of MSCs have been isolated from the umbilical cord (termed hUCMSCs) as compared to umbilical cord blood (Secco et al 2008). hUCMSCs can be easily isolated from nearly all samples, even from those umbilical cords that have been stored for up to 48 h (Weiss et al 2006).…”