Neural differentiation of novel multipotent progenitor cells from cryopreserved human umbilical cord blood.
Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells, with practical and ethical advantages. To date, the presence of other stem cells in UCB remains to be established. We investigated whether other stem cells are present in cryopreserved UCB. Seeded mononuclear cells formed adherent colonized cells in optimized culture conditions. Over a 4- to 6-week culture period, colonized cells gradually developed into adherent mono-layer cells, which exhibited homogeneous fibroblast-like morphology and immunophenotypes, and were highly proliferative. Isolated cells were designated 'multipotent progenitor cells (MPCs)'. Under appropriate conditions for 2 weeks, MPCs differentiated into neural tissue-specific cell types, including neuron, astrocyte, and oligodendrocyte. Differentiated cells presented their respective markers, specifically, NF-L and NSE for neurons, GFAP for astrocytes, and myelin/oligodendrocyte for oligodendrocytes. In this study, we successfully isolated MPCs from cryopreserved UCB, which differentiated into the neural tissue-specific cell types. These findings suggest that cryopreserved human UCB is a useful alternative source of neural progenitor cells, such as MPCs, for experimental and therapeutic applications.
Lee
Myoung Woo
MW
Biomedical Research Institute, LifeCord Inc, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
Moon
Young Joon
YJ
Yang
Mal Sook
MS
Kim
Sun Kyung
SK
Jang
In Keun
IK
Eom
Young-Woo
YW
Park
Joon Seong
JS
Kim
Hugh C
HC
Song
Kye Yong
KY
Park
Soon Cheol
SC
Lim
Hwan Sub
HS
Kim
Young Jin
YJ
D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D048429:Cell Size; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*