1Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Pathology, SGT University, Gurgaon, Haryana
2Reader, Department of Periodontology, SGT University, Gurgaon, Haryana
3Senior Lecturer, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Sciences, SGT University, Gurgaon, Haryana
*Corresponding author email id: nagpal.j@gmail.com
Online published on 1 July, 2016.
Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is the most recently identified source of stem cells. The UCB stem cells are capable of giving rise to hematopoietic, epithelial, endothelial, and neural tissues both in vitro and in vivo. They are being increasingly used as an alternative hematopoietic stem cell source for treating many diseases. To date, over 6000 UCB transplant procedures in children and adults have been performed worldwide using UCB donors. It has advantages of easy procurement, no risk to donors, low risk of transmitting infections, immediate availability and immune tolerance allowing successful transplantation despite HLA disparity. This review will focus on the collection techniques, banking systems and various therapeutic potentials of UCB.
Regenerative Medicine, Stem cells, Stem cell banking, Tissue engineering, Umbilical cord blood
