title: Neural differentiation of novel multipotent progenitor cells from cryopreserved human umbilical cord blood.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Institute, LifeCord Inc, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Myoung Woo
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young Joon
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Mal Sook
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Sun Kyung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: In Keun
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Young-Woo
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Eom
authors.forename: Joon Seong
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hugh C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kye Yong
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Soon Cheol
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hwan Sub
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Young Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: 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*