Can cord blood stem cells be used for organ regeneration?

By Cord Blood Advisor on December 28th, 2007

Answers: There are so many YES/MAYBE answers that they have to be enumerated. Cellular Cardiomyoplasty This is a new field of medicine in which Stem Cell transplantation is used to repair or regenerate damaged heart muscle. Animal studies have shown that Stem Cells from bone marrow can survive in dead heart muscle and improve its ability to contract. As of late 2002, this technique has entered phase I clinical trials with human beings. In the trials, the Stem Cells are injected into the perimeter of the dead muscle. Most studies have harvested the Stem Cells from bone marrow, although blood Stem Cells have also been harvested by apheresis of the circulating bloodstream. The bone marrow is sometimes injected fresh, or sometimes filtered to increase the percentage of stem cells. So far, many different approachs are being attempted because this field is still in its infancy. The first molecular evidence that stem cells from Cord Blood can repair heart damage in transplant patients was announced by researchers at Duke University in Feb 2004. References:

Stamm, C. et al. (4Jan2003) The Lancet 361:45-46
Tse, H.-F. et al. (4Jan2003) The Lancet 361:47-49
News reports about study results presented at the American Heart Association meeting: CNN 10Nov2003
Press releases from the American Heart Association: AHA 11Nov2003
Press release from Duke University, to be presented at the International Association of Bone Marrow Transplantation Research meeting 12-17Feb2004 in Orlando, FL: IBMTR Feb2004
Web page from the FDA’s BRMAC (Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee), dated 15Mar2004, on the clinical development of cellular products to be used in the treatment of heart diseases.
Wollert, KC et al. (10Jul2004) The Lancet 364(9429):141-8. “Intracoronary autologous bone-marrow cell transfer after myocardial infarction: the BOOST randomised controlled clinical trial”
Botta, R. et al. (Sep2004) FASEB J. 18(12):1392-4. “Heart infarct in NOD-SCID mice: therapeutic vasculogenesis by transplantation of human CD34+ cells and low dose CD34+KDR+ cells.”

Vascular regeneration Several research groups are experimenting with Cord Blood as a raw material for tissue engineering, particularly the development of vascular grafts. There are also reports that diabetic patients with severe damage to peripheral blood vessels (this is called “lower limb ischemia”) have been saved from amputation by the infusion of blood stem cells from their own bone marrow. References:

Schmidt D et al. (Dec.2004) Ann Thorac Surg. 78(6):2094-8. “Umbilical Cord Blood derived endothelial progenitor cells for tissue engineering of vascular grafts.”
Press release 6Oct2003 from Aastrom Biosciences announcing SBIR grant from NIH for Phase I Clinical Trial to develop stem cell treatment for in vivo animal model of limb ischemia.
Yamamoto et al. (Dec2004) Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 24(12):192-196. “Molecular evaluation of endothelial progenitor cells in patients with ischemic limbs: therapeutic effect by stem cell transplantation.”

Skin growth for wound repair References:

Valbonesi M, et al. (2004) Transfusion and Apheresis Science. 30:153-156. “Cord blood (CB) stem cells for wound repair. Preliminary report of 2 cases.”

Kidney repair Several research groups (example: U. of Queensland, Australia) are working to take stem cells from bone marrow and elicit them to grow into renal cells. Moreover, donor stem cells are being infused in combination with kidney transplants to reduce patient need for immunosuppressive drugs that prevent organ rejection. Liver repair References:

Kakinuma S, et al., Stem Cells. 2003;21(2):217-27. “Human umbilical cord blood as a source of transplantable hepatic progenitor cells.”

Diabetes / Pancreas References:

Ende N, Chen R, Reddi AS. (Aug2004) Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 321(1):168-71. “Transplantation of human umbilical cord blood cells improves glycemia and glomerular hypertrophy in type 2 diabetic mice.”
Ende N, Chen R, Reddi AS. (Dec2004) Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 325(3):665-9. “Effect of human umbilical cord blood cells on glycemia and insulitis in type 1 diabetic mice.”