Isolation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Umbilical Cord (Method)

Recent advances in stem cell (SC) research have attracted many biomedical researchers to explore the potential of SCs as new biomaterials. In addition to regenerative activity, SCs are also useful for high throughput screening and safety test of human drug targets. Although embryonic SCs possess best potential in terms of multipotency, their use has remained widely controversial due to ethical concerns. Meanwhile, intensive studies on adult SCs in the last decade have given us an alternative option as represented by mesenchymal SCs (MSCs). We recently reported successful isolation and characterization of MSCs from human umbilical cord lining membrane (sub-amnion). In this chapter, we would like to provide general guidelines for the isolation of MSCs from umbilical cord.