ABSTRACT
Umbilical cord blood is an alternative donor source for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Besides the CD34+ hematopoietic cells, cord blood contains immune cells, including NKcells, ILC, endothelial cells, and mesenchymal stromal cells that differ from their adult counterparts with respect to proliferative capacity, lack of external damage, long telomeres, and low virus load. These differences along with ease of acquisition offer advantages that make UCB a good raw material for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, cellular immune therapy (e.g. NK cells and T cells), ILC, regenerative mesenchymal-derived therapies and for genetic reprogramming into induced pluripotent stem cells.
