Umbilical cord blood stem cells - potential therapeutic tool for neural injuries and disorders

Brain limited self-renewal capability is the main element behind the seriousness of neurodegenerative diseases and neural injuries. Any possible attempts to use cell replacement-therapy approaches rely on: first, the ability of such cells to generate neural cells and tissues with developmental and functional similarities to human brain cells and second, development of safe and effective protocols for cells transplantations. Many recent studies showed that human umbilical cord blood stem cells have the potential to generate cells with neuronal characteristics. It has also been shown that these stem cells have a positive impact on animal models of neural injuries and diseases. Umbilical cord blood stem cells are a potential candidate for clinical therapies for neural injuries and neural degenerative diseases for which current mode of therapy is inadequate. In addition, they might provide an in-vitro model of parenchymal neural cells for toxicology and drugs testing research.