Abstract
Umbilical cord blood (UCB) was disclosed to possess the proliferative capacity containing
hematopoietic progenitors and has recently been applied for allogeneic transplantation
as an attractive alternative to bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells. UCB contains
similar and higher proportions of immature hematopoietic progenitors, compared to
bone marrow stem cells, although the number of collectable cells is limited. The yield
of collectable UCB volume ranges from 70 to 150 ml. The colony formation of CFU-Mix
of UCB was higher, but that of CFU-GM and CFU-E was lower, compared to those of bone
marrow. The analyses of expression of differentiation antigens and adhesion molecules
on CD34+ cells of UCB by flow cytometer, revealed that the co-expression rates of
CD38 and CD44 on CD34+ cells were almost the same, but the mean fluorescence intensity
of those was low compared to adult bone marrow. These results indicate that UCB contains
more primitive hematopoietic progenitors. UCB transplantation has greater advantages
of lower incidences of graft versus host disease, and unlimited number of donors compared
with other allogeneic transplantation would widen the indication of transplantation
by technical and methodological development.
Keywords:
Umbilical cord blood - umbilical cord blood transplantation - differentiation antigen
- adhesion molecules
