Applications of Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Autoimmune and Immunological Disorders: From Literature to Clinical Practice

Abstract

: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) enable a novel approach in stem cell therapy. Bone marrow (BM) was the first source used in MSCs therapy. However, BM has a number of key limitations as a source of MSCs, such as existence of only a small number of MSCs in the tissue, the painful, ethically problematic, and invasive nature of the associated collection process, and decrease in MSC specifications as age of donors increases. As a result, there has been increasing scholarly attention in identifying alternative sources for MSCs. In specific, Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (UC-MSCs) has been identified as a valuable source from which MSC may be obtained with potentially fewer ethical issues. MSCs can regulate the immune response, promote tissue repair, increase regeneration, and improve anticancer effects. Thus, they are significant allogenic and autologous representative for curing malignant and non-malignant disorders. In this review, therefore, the prospective applications for curing autoimmune disorders will be considered.

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“…However, many stem cells from different sources have limitations. BMMSCs are difficult to obtain and require invasive methods ( Abbaspanah et al, 2021 ). Adipose-derived MSCs (ADMSCs) are tightly bound to and not easy to separate from the extracellular matrix ( Mazini et al, 2020 ).…”

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“…The number of extraction and the differentiation potential tend to decline with an increase in age ( Azizi et al, 2022 ). However, UC-MSCs are suspected to have gender differences, which limits their application range, and their differentiation ability remains controversial ( Abbaspanah et al, 2021 ). ADSCs can maintain high cell viability and low immunogenicity for a long time.…”

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“…However, there is still an urgent need for refinement and development of precise therapeutic methods to reduce the rates of long-term disability and mortality while minimizing the adverse effects. Accumulating evidence showed that human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSC) possess differentiation capability, regulate immune response, promote local tissue repair and regeneration, suggesting a therapeutic potential of hUC-MSC in autoimmune disorders (6). Yao et al thus proposed a study protocol for a prospective multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial for hUC-MSC to treat NMOSD (hUC-MSC-NMOSD).…”