A Simple Method to Isolate and Expand Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Using Explant Method and Umbilical Cord Blood Serum

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells that can be isolated from umbilical cords and are therapeutically used because of their ability to differentiate into various types of cells, in addition to their immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties. Fetal bovine serum (FBS), considered as the standard additive when isolating and culturing MSCs, has a major limitation related to its animal origin. Here, we employed a simple and economically efficient protocol to isolate MSCs from human umbilical cord tissues without using digestive enzymes and replacing FBS with umbilical cord blood serum (CBS). METHODS AND RESULTS: MSCs were isolated by culturing umbilical cord pieces in CBS or FBS supplemented media. Expansion and proliferation kinetics of cells isolated by explant method in the presence of either FBS or CBS were measured, with morphology and multi-differentiation potential of expanded cells characterized by flow cytometry, RT-PCR, and immunofluorescence. MSCs maintained morphology, immunophenotyping, multi-differentiation potential, and self-renewal ability, with better proliferation rates for cells cultured in CBS compared to FBS supplement media. CONCLUSIONS: We here present a simple, reliable and efficient method to isolate MSCs from umbilical cord tissues, where cells maintained proliferation, differentiation potential and immunophenotyping properties and could be efficiently expanded for clinical applications.