Human cord blood applications in cell therapy: looking back and look ahead.
BACKGROUND
Human umbilical cord blood (UCB) has been used as a reliable source of stem cells for blood-borne diseases and disorders. Recent advances in cell reprogramming technology to produce induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which can be differentiated to multiple adult cell types, has further expanded the potential of cord blood cell therapy for treatment of non-blood-borne diseases. However, in order to harness this breakthrough technology and to provide clinical-grade cells for the patient, standardization of iPS production and differentiation, and good manufacturing practice (GMP) need to be employed.


METHODS
UCB is an ethical source of stem cells and has been used to treat diseases including leukemia, cancer and blood disorders. The development of iPS cell technology could potentially greatly increase the application of cord blood cells as a treatment for a broader range of diseases, UCB-iPS banks could, therefore, be a valuable complementary source of clinical-grade cells for cell therapy. The current applicability of GMP to UCB and UCB-iPS cell-based cell therapy will be discussed.


CONCLUSIONS
Although cord blood stem cell therapies have been practiced for decades, UCB-iPS cell therapies are a new innovation currently in development. Successful clinical applications of such novel cell therapies will depend on the production of GMP-compliant cells and the establishment of cell banks.
New York Stem Cell Foundation, NY, USA.
Hongyan
H
Zhou
Stephen
S
Chang
Mahendra
M
Rao
D018070:Biological Specimen Banks / Q000266:history / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000266:history / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000266:history / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D005544:Forecasting; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D012038:Regeneration; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000266:history / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*