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Review
. 2011 Apr;44 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):60-9.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2184.2010.00729.x.

The umbilical cord: a rich and ethical stem cell source to advance regenerative medicine

N Forraz  1 , C P McGuckin
Affiliations
Review

The umbilical cord: a rich and ethical stem cell source to advance regenerative medicine

N Forraz et al. Cell Prolif. 2011 Apr.

Abstract

Science and medicine place a lot of hope in the development of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. This review will define the concept of regenerative medicine and focus on an abundant stem cell source - neonatal tissues such as the umbilical cord. Umbilical cord blood has been used clinically for over 20 years as a cell source for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Beyond this, cord blood and umbilical cord-derived stem cells have demonstrated potential for pluripotent lineage differentiation (liver, pancreatic, neural tissues and more) in vitro and in vivo. This promising research has opened up a new era for utilization of neonatal stem cells, now used beyond haematology in clinical trials for autoimmune disorders, cerebral palsy or type I diabetes.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly as a source of mesenchymal stem cells. (a) Sagittal section of a 1 cm diameter umbilical cord with Wharton’s jelly (WJ) surrounding two arteries (A) and one vein (V). (b) 10 mm3 biopsy pieces of Wharton’s jelly. (c) Wharton’s jelly piece (WJ) in serum‐free culture growing‐out mesenchymal stem cells. (d) Mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord at 80% confluence in serum‐free culture.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Umbilical cord blood collection and processing. (a) Cord blood is collected after birth from the umbilical vein into (b) citrate‐based anticoagulant‐containing blood collection bag. (c) Sepax device, enabling closed system cord blood processing in approximately 20 min.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Over 419 000 umbilical cord blood samples are stored in public registries worldwide (source Bone Marrow Donor Worldwide http://www.bmdw.org , March 2010).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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