The short-term interactions of chondrosarcoma cells with polyelectrolyte multilayer films built up by the alternate adsorption of poly(L-lysine) (PLL) and poly(L-glutamic acid) (PGA) was studied in the presence and in the absence of serum. The films and their interaction with serum proteins were first characterized by means of optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy, quartz crystal microbalance, and zeta potential measurements. In a serum-containing medium, the detachment forces measured by the micropipet technique were about eight times smaller on PGA-ending than on PLL-ending films. For these latter ones, the adhesion force decreased when the film thickness increased. In a serum-free medium, the differences between the negative- and positive-ending films were enhanced: adhesion forces on PLL-ending films were 40-100% higher, whereas no cellular adherence was found on PGA-terminating films. PGA-ending films were found to prevent the adsorption of serum proteins, whereas important protein adsorption was always observed on PLL-ending films. These results show how cell interactions with polyelectrolyte films can be tuned by the type of the outermost layer, the presence of proteins, and the number of layers in the film.

Due to their self-renewal capacity, multilineage differentiation potential, paracrine effects, and immunosuppressive properties, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are an attractive and promising tool for regenerative medicine. MSCs can be isolated from various tissues but despite their common immunophenotypic characteristics and functional properties, source-dependent differences in MSCs properties have recently emerged and lead to different clinical applications. Considered for a long time as a medical waste, umbilical cord appears these days as a promising source of MSCs. Several reports have shown that umbilical cord-derived MSCs are more primitive, proliferative, and immunosuppressive than their adult counterparts. In this review, we aim at synthesizing the differences between umbilical cord MSCs and MSCs from other sources (bone marrow, adipose tissue, periodontal ligament, dental pulp,…) with regard to their proliferation capacity, proteic and transcriptomic profiles, and their secretome involved in their regenerative, homing, and immunomodulatory capacities. Although umbilical cord MSCs are until now not particularly used as an MSC source in clinical practice, accumulating evidence shows that they may have a therapeutic advantage to treat several diseases, especially autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.

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