"UCT is a rich source of MSC and can be used as an alternative to BM- or adipose tissue (AT)-derived MSC. UCT-MSC may be isolated from the placenta, the perivascular space, and the Wharton’s jelly present in the umbilical cord stroma and yields higher numbers of MSC when compared to BM or AT. Besides, UCT-MSC have higher proliferative potential than BM- and AT-MSC and express higher amounts of cytokines and hematopoietic growth factors, such as G-CSF, GM-CSF, LIF, IL-1α, IL-6, and IL-8. Of note, its proangiogenic capacity is independent of
VEGF-A. As a source of perinatal cells, UCT-MSC express markers of pluripotency higher than postnatal tissue, but lesser than ESC, and are not known to induce tumorigenesis. Its therapeutic effects in preclinical and clinical studies, including vascular diseases, encourage further studies to pursue the clinical use of UCT-MSC."
Arutyunyan I, Elchaninov A, Makarov A, et al. Umbilical cord as prospective source for
mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy. Stem Cells Int. 2016;2016:ID 6901286.