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Updated: Apr 29, 2026
Generation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Human Umbilical Cord Tissue and their Differentiation into the Skeletal Muscle Lineage
Published on: August 31, 2022
Mesenchymal stem cell isolation from human umbilical cord tissue: understanding and minimizing variability in cell
Andreea Iftimia-Mander1, Paul Hourd, Roger Dainty
11 Centre for Biological Engineering , Healthcare Research Group, Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, United Kingdom .
Explant culture is a more reliable method for extracting mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord tissue compared to enzymatic digestion. This method is less affected by variable handling conditions, ensuring consistent cell yield for cell-based therapies.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
- Stem Cell Biology
Background:
- Human tissue banks are crucial for supplying cellular material for emerging cell-based therapies.
- Umbilical cord (UC) tissue is a valuable source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for therapeutic applications.
- Current UC tissue handling faces challenges due to clinical birth environments and transport logistics, necessitating robust extraction methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the robustness and variability of explant culture versus enzymatic digestion for extracting cells from UC tissue.
- To evaluate the impact of real-world processing conditions on cell yield, growth, and differentiation potential.
Main Methods:
- Umbilical cord tissue samples were processed using both explant culture and enzymatic digestion methods.
- Cell yield, proliferation, and differentiation potential were analyzed for cells extracted by each method.
- Variability in cell yield was assessed in relation to tissue location and processing time delay.
Main Results:
- Enzymatic digestion exhibited significantly higher variability in cell yield compared to explant culture.
- Cell yield from enzymatic digestion was influenced by the placental end location and processing time.
- Explant culture demonstrated greater robustness to variations in tissue location and processing delays.
- All isolated cells exhibited comparable proliferative and differentiation capabilities.
Conclusions:
- Explant culture provides a more robust and consistent method for extracting cells from UC tissue under variable handling conditions.
- This method is advantageous for cell banking and future therapeutic applications where consistent cell supply is critical.
- The findings support explant culture as a preferred method over enzymatic digestion for clinical-grade MSC isolation from UC tissue.
