Expansion of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Umbilical Cord in Media Containing Human Serum (Method)

Abstract

The regeneration of damaged or diseased tissues or organs is one of the most ­ambitious and challenging fields in modern medicine. In this context, stem cells and especially mesenchymal stem or stromal cells (MSC) have proven to offer great promise as these cells are capable for extensive self-renewal and display a multilineage differentiation potential. Over the last decade the human umbilical cord and other birth- associated tissues have been found to be a rich and valuable source of MSC. The production of therapeutically significant cell numbers still remains to be one of the major challenges in clinical applications. Therefore biotechnological protocols need to be established to guarantee a reproducible and safe isolation and expansion of the cells. In this chapter an overview of techniques for the isolation of MSC from the tissue of the human umbilical cord is given and different expansion ­strategies are presented. In this context the composition of the culture media with regard to xeno-free culture conditions and the usage of growth factors as a proliferation trigger are discussed. Furthermore, different strategies for MSC expansion are briefly described, whereby the expansion in bioreactor systems using microcarriers is highlighted.