Umbilical Cord Blood: Readily Available Source for Stem Cell Therapy

Posted on 2009-10-06 06:00:00 in Stem Cell Research |

Umbilical cord blood cells can successfully be reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells, setting the basis for the creation of a comprehensive bank of tissue-matched, cord blood-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for off-the-shelf applications, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, Spain.  "Cord blood stem cells could serve as a safe, "ready-to-use" source for the generation of iPS cells, since they are easily accessible, immunologically immature and quick to return to an embryonic stem cell-like state," says Juan-Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Ph.D., a professor in the Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory.

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Alessandra Giorgetti, Nuria Montserrat, Trond Aasen, Federico Gonzalez, Ignacio Rodríguez-Piza, Rita Vassena, Angel Raya, Stephanie Boue, Maria Jose Barrero, Begoña Aran Corbella, Marta Torrabadella, Anna Veiga, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte.  “Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Cord Blood Using OCT4 and SOX2.”  Cell Stem Cell, Volume 5, Issue 4, 353-357, 2 October 2009; doi:10.1016/j.stem.2009.09.008.


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