title: Alternative xeno-free biomaterials derived from human umbilical cord for the self-renewal ex-vivo expansion of mesenchymal stem cells.
abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are attractive candidates for novel cell-therapy applications. However, the in vitro expansion of MSCs typically depends on the presence of fetal bovine serum (FBS) and coating materials derived from animal sources, which may cause contamination in clinical applications. In this study, we investigated whether human umbilical cord extract (UCE) could serve as a serum replacement and whether collagen purified from umbilical cord (UC-collagen) could act as an extracellular matrix (ECM) for the in vitro culture of MSCs derived from human UC (UC-MSCs). A total of 5.61 ± 0.54 mg UCE and 18.41 ± 2.42 mg collagen were extracted, and 1.3 ± 0.2 × 10⁵ cells were isolated from 1 g of UC, as determined by the expression of typical MSC surface markers. Importantly, the proliferation and stemness of the UC-MSCs cultured with the UCE media were similar to those cultured under FBS conditions on UC-collagen-treated plates for eight passages. Based on these results, we suggest that UCs, which are discarded as medical waste, represent a viable alternative source of xeno-free biomaterials to replace animal-derived serum and ECM materials for the cultivation of various cell types, including UC-MSCs, adipose tissue-derived MSCs, bone marrow-derived MSCs, and fibroblasts. This innovative xeno-free MSCs culture system can overcome many of the problems associated with immunogenicity, and it will further contribute to the enhancement of treatment efficiency.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Applied Bioscience, CHA University , Seongnam-si, South Korea .
authors.forename: Sun-Mi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung-Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Youngjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Gi Jin
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyung-Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Yong-Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003470:Culture Media; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D003094:Collagen