BACKGROUND Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has become the second most common source of stem cells for cell therapy. The recent boom in stem cell research and public fascination with promises of stem cell-based therapies, fueled by the media, have led researchers to explore the potential of UCB stem cells in therapy for non-hematological disorders. SOURCES OF DATA ClinicalTrials.gov database search...

Urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) with glandular differentiation is a histological variant (HV) that is more likely to have positive extravesical tumors or nodes than those in pure UCB. Cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) prior to radical cystectomy (RC) is more effective for pure UCB; however, few reports are available on second-line chemotherapy for recurrence of UCB with H...

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a life-saving procedure for hematopoietic malignancies, marrow failure syndromes, and hereditary immunodeficiency disorders. However, wide application of this procedure is limited by availability of suitably HLA-matched adult donors. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has being increasingly used as an alternative hematopoietic stem cell source for t...

PURPOSE To test the feasibility of altering the phenotype of umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (UCB MSCs) toward that of human corneal endothelial cells (HCEC) and to determine whether UCB MSCs can "home" to sites of corneal endothelial cell injury using an ex vivo corneal wound model. METHODS RNA was isolated and purified from UCB MSCs and HCECs. Baseline information regarding the ...

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-021-02148-1

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are reported to be associated with poor prognosis, depending on their pro-tumoral roles. Current knowledge of TAMs and CAFs in the tumor microenvironment of urothelial cancer of the bladder (UCB) is limited. Therefore, we investigated the paracrine effect induced by TAMs and CAFs in the tumor microenvironment of human ...

AIMS AND BACKGROUND Glioma is difficult to treat and despite advances, outcomes remain poor and new treatment modalities are required. We studied the inhibitive effects of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCB-MSCs) on glioma growth. MATERIAL AND METHODS UCB-MSCs were identified in mice by flow cytometric analysis, and neurogenic differentiation by immunohistochemistr...

The pathogenesis of bilirubin encephalopathy seems to result from accumulation of unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) within the brain. We have recently demonstrated that UCB causes astroglial release of proinflammatory cytokines and glutamate, as well as cell death. The bile acid glycoursodeoxycholic acid (GUDCA) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 have been reported to modulate in...

We found microRNA-133b (miR-133b) was downregulated in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) tissues, and it could inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis in UCB cells. Consequently, we intend to explore the clinical significance of miR-133b in UCB patients. Expression of miR-133b in 146 UCB specimens and matched adjacent non-neoplastic bladder tissues were measured by quantitative r...

OBJECTIVES The diverse clinical applications for human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in cellular therapy and regenerative medicine warrant increased focus on developing adequate culture supplements devoid of animal-derived products. In the present study, we have investigated the feasibility of umbilical cord blood-platelet lysate (UCB-PL) as a standard substitute for fetal bovine serum (FBS) a...