Use of umbilical cord and cord blood-derived stem cells for tissue repair and regeneration.

INTRODUCTION: Potential use of umbilical cord (UC) is one of the most exciting frontiers in medicine for repairing damaged tissues. UC and cord blood-derived stem cells are the world's largest potential sources of stem cells. UC contains a mixture of stem and progenitor cells at different lineage commitment stages and UC has been verified as a candidate for cell-based therapies and tissue engineering applications due to the capability of these cells for extensive self-renewal and multi-lineage character in differentiation potential.

AREAS COVERED: UC-based repair or regeneration of organs (i.e., heart, nerve, skin, etc.) is a high-priority research worldwide.

EXPERT OPINION: The aim of this review is to summarize the knowledge about UC with main focus on its applications for tissue repair and regeneration.