title: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells: an overview of their potential in cell-based therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) are one of the typical adult stem cells; they have superiorities including low immunogenicity, non-invasive harvest procedure, easy expansion in vitro, and ethical access compared with stem cells from other sources. Therefore, HUC-MSCs are a promising candidate for cell-based therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here we reviewed the development of stem cell-based therapy, the manufacturing and banking process of HUC-MSCs, the emerging clinical studies in the field of cancer, central nervous system diseases, liver diseases and graft-versus-host disease, the potential therapeutic mechanisms, as well as challenges of HUC-MSCs in clinical translation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HUC-MSCs seem to be an optimal choice for stem cell-based therapy. However, before the cells translate from basic to clinical research, some problems still remain to be solved: i) building regulatory guidelines as well as an efficient and safe manufacturing procedure; ii) establishing donor's genetic testing and long-term closely monitoring system; iii) conducting further clinical trials to determine the optimum and standard dosage, time, route, frequency and many other technical issues of HUC-MSCs transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Drum Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Department of Neurology , 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province 210008 , China +86 25 6818 2212 ; +86 25 8310 5208 ; xuyun20042001@aliyun.com ; y.chen860606@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Mingxu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Yanting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: clinical application; cryopreservation; human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells; isolation; paracrine