TORONTO, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers found an unexplored part of the umbilical cord contains stem cells that can be used for bone marrow transplants and tissue repair.
The jelly-like connective tissue surrounding the blood vessels of the human umbilical cord has large numbers of mesenchymal progenitor cells, which generate bone, cartilage and other tissues, the University of Toronto team wrote in the February issue of the journal Stem Cells.
"We hypothesized that since the umbilical cord grows so rapidly during fetal development, there must be some source producing these mesenchymal stem cells," wrote John Davies, study leader. "We found that the jelly tissue immediately around the vessels had the richest population of these cells. Once we isolate them, it only takes 21 days to generate enough stem cells for up to 1,000 therapeutic cell doses."
Bone marrow transplants to treat cancers and immune deficiency disorders replace diseased cells with fresh ones from bones. Ideally, the transplant contains both hematopoietic stem cells, which form blood, and mesenchymal stem cells, which increase the transplant success rate. About 40 percent of bone marrow transplants are successful, according to the study.
