Abstract
The placenta is a temporary organ that is discarded after birth and is one of the most promising sources of various cells and tissues for use in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, both in experimental and clinical settings. The placenta has unique, intrinsic features because it plays many roles during gestation: it is formed by cells from two individuals (mother and fetus), contributes to the development and growth of an allogeneic fetus, and has two independent and interacting circulatory systems. Different stem and progenitor cell types can be isolated from the different perinatal tissues making them particularly interesting candidates for use in cell therapy and regenerative medicine. The primary source of perinatal stem cells is cord blood. Cord blood has been a well-known source of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells since 1974. Biobanked cord blood has been used to treat different hematological and immunological disorders for over 30 years. Other perinatal tissues that are routinely discarded as medical waste contain non-hematopoietic cells with potential therapeutic value. Indeed, in advanced perinatal cell therapy trials, mesenchymal stromal cells are the most commonly used. Here, we review one by one the different perinatal tissues and the different perinatal stem cells isolated with their phenotypical characteristics and the preclinical uses of these cells in numerous pathologies. An overview of clinical applications of perinatal derived cells is also described with special emphasis on the clinical trials being carried out to treat COVID19 pneumonia. Furthermore, we describe the use of new technologies in the field of perinatal stem cells and the future directions and challenges of this fascinating and rapidly progressing field of perinatal cells and regenerative medicine.
Highlights
Received: 16 November 2020 Accepted: 20 December 2020 Published: 23 December 2020Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Cell therapy constitutes a strategy based on the use of cells as therapeutic agents
A significant advantage of the placenta is that it is a tissue discarded after birth with high yield cells that have been less exposed to infections reducing the possibility of disease transmission
The aim of this review is to give an overview of the interesting characteristics possessed by the stem and progenitor cell types isolated from the different perinatal tissues making them interesting candidates for use in regenerative medicine
Summary
Received: 16 November 2020 Accepted: 20 December 2020 Published: 23 December 2020. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cell therapy constitutes a strategy based on the use of cells as therapeutic agents In this sense, studying and defining the type of cell to apply to a specific treatment is essential to success in regenerative medicine. Stem cells are special human cells that can develop into many different cell types and simultaneously divide and self-renew to maintain their population. Depending on their origin they are classified as (1) embryonic stem cells (ESC), present in the inner cell mass of the blastocyst; (2) adult stem cells (ASC) that are present in numerous tissues of the human body including bone marrow, peripheral blood, and skin; and (3) perinatal stem cells, existing in the placenta and fetal annexes. Our aim is to dissect the encouraging results obtained until now and the current and future challenges of these promising cell types
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