Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is associated with high risk of morbidity and mortality and is a common complication after double umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplantation. To reduce these risks, we established a method of CD4 ؉ CD25 ؉ FoxP3 ؉ T regulatory cell (Treg) enrichment from cryopreserved UCB followed by a 18 ؉ 1-day expansion culture including anti-CD3/anti-CD28 antibody-coated beads and recombinant human interleukin-2. In a "first-in-human"

Clinical evidence of hematopoietic restoration with placental/umbilical cord blood (PCB) grafts indicates that PCB can be a useful source of hematopoietic stem cells for routine bone marrow reconstitution. In the unrelated setting, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched donors must be obtained for candidate patients and, hence, large panels of frozen HLA-typed PCB units must be established.

Placental blood is a useful source of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells for bone marrow reconstitution.

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HLA-mismatched placental blood from unrelated donors is an alternative source of stem cells for hematopoietic reconstitution in children.