Current Status of Canine Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Veterinary Medicine

Abstract

Stem cell therapy has prompted the expansion of veterinary medicine both experimentally and clinically, with the potential to contribute to contemporary treatment strategies for various diseases and conditions for which limited or no therapeutic options are presently available. Although the application of various types of stem cells, such as bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs), adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs), and umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCB-MSCs), has promising potential to improve the health of different species, it is crucial that the benefits and drawbacks are completely evaluated before use. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a rich source of stem cells; nonetheless, isolation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from UCB presents technical challenges. Although MSCs have been isolated from UCB of diverse species such as human, equine, sheep, goat, and canine, there are inherent limitations of using UCB from these species for the expansion of MSCs. In this review, we investigated canine UCB (cUCB) and compared it with UCB from other species by reviewing recent articles published from February 2003 to June 2017 to gain an understanding of the limitations of cUCB in the acquisition of MSCs and to determine other suitable sources for the isolation of MSCs from canine. Our review indicates that cUCB is not an ideal source of MSCs because of insufficient volume and ethical issues. However, canine reproductive organs discarded during neutering may help broaden our understanding of effective isolation of MSCs. We recommend exploring canine reproductive and adipose tissue rather than UCB to fulfill the current need in veterinary medicine for the well-designed and ethically approved source of MSCs.

Phenotypical Characterization and Neurogenic Differentiation of Rabbit Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

“…In the last decades, interest in research on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has increased due to their specific biological features. Owing to their ability to spread and differentiate, MSCs have found widespread use, not only in regenerative medicine, but also in various disease treatment therapies, veterinary medicine and drug development, as well as stem cell banking [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. The greatest advances in stem cell-based therapy so far have been achieved with MSCs isolated from bone marrow.…”

Translational Animal Models Provide Insight Into Mesenchymal Stromal Cell (MSC) Secretome Therapy

“…Mesenchymal stromal cells derived from veterinary species have been isolated, characterized and extensively studied in vitro , with the goal of determining the potential of these cells as therapies for a variety of diseases, many of which also affect humans ( De Schauwer et al, 2013 ; Calloni et al, 2014 ; Devireddy et al, 2017 ; Sultana et al, 2018 ; Dias et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2019 ). In addition, case studies and clinical trials of MSCs isolated from companion animals have provided in vivo data further supporting the efficacy of MSC-based therapies ( Caniglia et al, 2012 ; Carvalho et al, 2013 ; Renzi et al, 2013 ; Arzi et al, 2016 ; Hoffman and Dow, 2016 ; Geburek et al, 2017 ; Quimby and Borjesson, 2018 ).…”

Mesenchymal stem cells therapy in companion animals: useful for immune-mediated diseases?

“…In veterinary medicine, MSCs are obtained mainly from adipose tissue and bone marrow (BM), taking into consideration their location and harvesting procedure [3, 6, 25]. Although BM represents an abundant source of MSCs, harvesting this tissue is more invasive and requires younger donors, making adipose tissue a first choice [3, 10].…”

“…Despite their enormous potential, their application in cell therapy carries a series of inconveniences. Obtaining these embryonic cells is a much more complex and expensive procedure than other types of stem cells, there is a larger risk of tumorigenesis and immune rejection and there are also moral and legal restrictions to its use [4–6, 9, 10].…”