Stem cells with potential found in umbilical cord blood

Scientists have discovered adult stem cells in umbilical cord blood that may have the same properties as embryonic stem cells (ES cells) . Dubbed 'cord-blood-derived embryonic-like stem cells' (CBEs), these cells might have a potential similar to ES cells, offering the possibility of a less controversial way to repair tissue damage from injury and disease. What's more, scientists have also found a way to multiply the cells to generate the numbers needed to treat tissue damage.

As published in this month's Cell Proliferation, researchers at Kingston University in London and the University of Texas in the United States have found adult stem cells in umbilical cord blood that have most of the surface 'markers' that characterise ES cells. Using a method originally developed for NASA to isolate proteins from cells grown on the International Space Station, the team is able to multiply the CBEs in free-floating, three-dimensional conditions. The London team has been able to grow their CBEs into liver tissue, while the Texas team is growing pancreatic tissue.

If CBEs are shown to work in the same way as ES cells, they could circumvent the ethical issues surrounding ES cell research and use. Blood from the umbilical cord could be stored and the cells isolated and multiplied without having to destroy an embryo as is the case in ES cell research today. It could also prove to be more practical. As the amount of cord blood saved in banks increases, the chance of finding a tissue match for a patient will increase too.

There is more work to be done to examine the potential of CBEs. 'They have a lot of key characteristics with embryonic stem cells; whether they are identical or not is still a question. But if they act like embryonic stem cells, it may not be necessary to prove they are identical', stated Larry Denner, associate director of research at the Stark Diabetes Center, University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Their rarity is another hurdle. From a third of a cup of blood, you may get 50,000 potential stems cells and only a couple of CBEs, says Denner.

'To make claims that these adult stem cells are like embryonic stem cells requires much more evidence than this paper provides. There are a whole range of questions that they didn't ask and claims that they didn't prove', cautioned Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, head of genetics at the National Institute of Medical Research.

However, Dr Colin McGuckin of Kingston University is hopeful: 'My estimation is that within ten years somebody will have benefited from this big-time', he said.