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. 2014 May 8;2(1):20-5.
eCollection 2014 Jan-Mar.

A future in our past: the umbilical cord for orthopaedic tissue engineering

Antonio Marmotti  1 , Giuseppe Maria Peretti  2 , Silvia Mattia  3 , Davide Edoardo Bonasia  1 , Matteo Bruzzone  1 , Federico Dettoni  1 , Roberto Rossi  1 , Filippo Castoldi  1
Affiliations

A future in our past: the umbilical cord for orthopaedic tissue engineering

Antonio Marmotti et al. Joints. .

Abstract

The umbilical cord (UC) has recently been added to the list of potential cell sources for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine purposes. Although the UC is usually discarded after delivery, UC storage in special tissue banks is becoming an increasingly common procedure. Indeed, the capacity of UC cells to be directed toward different phenotypes makes this tissue an ideal cell source for regenerative medicine in orthopedics and in other fields. In this paper, these issues are presented and discussed, together with the potential of this cell source for allogeneic use. This article also looks at the anatomy of the UC from both the macroscopic and the cellular perspective and considers its extraordinary potential for research and clinical applications.

Keywords: chondrogenic; mesenchymal stem cells; osteogenic; tissue engineering; umbilical cord.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Fragments of umbilical cord in a Petri dish.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Osteogenic differentiation of UC-MSCs demonstrated by alizarin red staining (A) and alkaline phosphatase staining (B) at 21 days. Magnification 10x.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
3-D culture of UC-MSCs on osteogenic scaffold demonstrated by alizarin red staining (10x) at 30 days.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Pellet culture of UC-MSCs for chondrogenic commitment demonstrated by safranin O staining at 30 days in normoxic condition (A) and hypoxic condition at 10% oxygen tension (B).
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
3D culture of UC- MSCs on collagen I/III chondrogenic scaffold demonstrated by safranin O staining at 30 days in normoxic condition (A) and hypoxic condition at 10% oxygen tension (B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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