Towards clinical applications of umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

Stem cells hold great promise for treating and, ultimately, curing diseases that are currently being managed with pharmaceutical intervention to control the disease progression and/or disease-related manifestations. Stem cells can be used to regenerate normal cells and tissue, while replacing diseased cells and tissue, in order to restore homeostasis and normal tissue function. Although, there is currently great ethical debate concerning embryonic stem cells-specifically in regards to the dilemma of terminating (potential) life, in order to derive stem cells that could be used to treat and potentially cure another ailing individual-no such ethical quandaries exist with adult stem cell sources-with appropriate patient education and consent. In fact, adult stem cell treatments have been in use for more than 50 years, beginning with the first bone marrow transplants spearheaded in the 1950s to organ transplantations of today. As the stem cell field moves forward towards the next generation of cell-based and regenerative medicine therapies, a new paradigm is being explored as a valuable source of primitive stem cells-otherwise known as perinatal stem cells. This chapter explores, in depth, the potential clinical use and benefit of perinatal stem cells and analogous regenerative medicine therapies sourced from the umbilical cord tissue and Wharton's Jelly.