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Umbilical cord blood contains cells called Mesenchymal Stem Cells, that are capable of producing a variety of cell types, including muscle, bone and chondrocytes. Recently, a group of scientists in Brazil were able to produce Chondrocytes, the cells involved with cartilage production, using defined growth factors from Umbilical Cord Blood. This is important because the use of defined growth conditions will allow for the high yield production of a pure population of cells that will be suitable for clinical applications. For any regenerative medicine therapy, being able to use your own cells has many advantages.
This study opens up the possibility that your banked UCB unit can be used to regenerate cartilage to repair future knee problems.
Source: Chondrogenesis from umbilical cord blood cells stimulated with BMP-2 and BMP-6.
de Mara CS, Duarte AS, Sartori-Cintra AR, Luzo AC, Saad ST, Coimbra IB.
Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Cartilage, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Clinical Medicine, State University of Campinas, UNICAMP, R. Vital Brasil, 50, Prédio FCM 08, Campus Universitário Barão Geraldo, Campinas, SP, Brazil, cristianesdm@uol.com.br. PMID:22238025[PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
– Ian Rogers PhD