Extracellular vesicles: Regenerative medicine prospect in hematological malignancies.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) either as endocytic or plasma membrane-emerged vesicles play pivotal role in cell-to-cell communication. Due to the bioactive molecules transformation, lymphoma cell-derived vesicles can alter a recipient cell's function and contribute to signal transduction and drug resistance. These vesicles by acting not only in tumor cells but also in tumor-associated cells have important roles in tumor growth and invasion. On the other hand, the total protein level of circulating exosomes reveals the disease stage, tumor burden, response to therapy, and survival. In residual disease, leukemic blasts are undetectable in the bone marrow by conventional methods but exosomal proteins are elevated significantly. In this manner, new methods for measuring exosomes and exosomal components are required. In this review, we try to reveal the concealed role of EVs in hematological malignancies besides therapeutic potentials.

Applications of Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Autoimmune and Immunological Disorders: From Literature to Clinical Practice.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) enable a novel approach to stem cell therapy. Bone Marrow (BM) was the first source used in MSCs therapy. However, BM has a number of key limitations as a source of MSCs, such as the existence of only a small number of MSCs in the tissue; the painful, ethically problematic, and invasive nature of the associated collection process; and a decrease in MSC specifications as the age of donors increases. As a result, there has been increasing scholarly attention towards identifying alternative sources for MSCs. In specific, Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (UC-MSCs) have been identified as a valuable source from which MSC may be obtained with potentially fewer ethical issues. MSCs can regulate the immune response, promote tissue repair, increase regeneration, and improve anticancer effects. Thus, they are significant allogenic and autologous representatives for curing malignant and non-malignant disorders. In this review, therefore, the prospective applications for curing autoimmune disorders will be considered.

Stem Cell Therapy: A Promising Approach in Treatment of COVID-19.

COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis of the 21st Century. There are currently no approved vaccines and no particular anti-viral treatment for coronavirus disease. As COVID-19 has a broad range of illnesses, it is necessary to find a safe and effective therapeutic method for COVID-19. An attractive approach for treating COVID-19 is cell therapy. Cell therapy aims to inject new and healthy stem cells into a patient's body, to repair the damaged cells and tissues. Stem cell therapy is one of the most studied and important approaches in the treatment of COVID-19 these days. The significant clinical outcome was observed by the adoptive transfer of stem cells, specifically mesenchymal stem cells. This study reviews the characteristics of stem cells and clinical trials that have used stem cells in treating COVID-19.

Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells in neurodegenerative disorders: from literature to clinical practice.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have provided a promising tool for cell therapy. Umbilical cord (UC) is one of the best sources of MSCs since its collection is noninvasive, and effortless, and the cells from this source are more capable and prolific. It has been proven that the differentiation, migration and protective properties of UC-MSCs are superior compared with other kinds of stem cells. Moreover, incurable neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Huntington, encourage scientists to apply UC-MSCs transplantation in order to find a definite treatment. This review will focus on the preclinical and clinical use of mesenchymal stem cells derived from human umbilical cord in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.

Umbilical cord blood quality and quantity: Collection up to transplantation.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an attractive source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation in some blood disorders. One of the major factors that influence on transplantation fate is cord blood (CB) cell count, in addition to human leukocyte antigen similarity and CD34+ cell number. Here, we review the factors that could effect on quality and quantity of CBUs. Relevant English-language literatures were searched and retrieved from PubMed using the terms: CB, quality, collection, and transplantation. The numbers of total nucleated cells (TNCs) and CD34+ cells are good indicators of CB quality because they have been associated with engraftment; thereby, whatever the TNCs in a CB unit (CBU) are higher, more likely they led to successful engraftment. Many factors influence the quantity and quality of UCB units that collect after delivery. Some parameters are not in our hands, such as maternal and infant factors, and hence, we cannot change these. However, some other factors are in our authority, such as mode of collection, type and amount of anticoagulant, and time and temperature during collection to postthaw CBUs and freeze-and-thaw procedures. By optimizing the CB collection, we can improve the quantity and quality of UCB for storage and increase the likelihood of its use for transplantation.

Advances in perinatal stem cells research: a precious cell source for clinical applications.

Perinatal tissues possess numerous types of stem (stromal) cells, which are considered effective candidates for cell therapy. These tissues possess common characteristics of both embryonic and adult stem cells, and cell therapists have begun to use perinatal stem cells to treat several diseases. Despite their benefits, these cells are considered biological waste and usually discarded after delivery. This review highlights the characteristics and potential clinical applications in regenerative medicine of perinatal stem cell sources - cord blood hematopoietic stem cells, umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells, amniotic membrane stem cells, amniotic fluid stem cells, amniotic epithelial cells and chorionic mesenchymal stem cells.