Characterization of human umbilical cord blood

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Characterization of haematopoietic properties of human umbilical cord blood

• IRAS ID

  210760

• Contact name

  Alexander Medvinsky

• Contact email

  A.Medvinsky@ed.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Edinburgh

• Duration of Study in the UK

  5 years, 0 months, 0 days

• Research summary

  Blood stem cells, also known as haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), are found in adult bone marrow and these stem cells give rise to practically all mature blood cell types throughout ones’ entire life. For many years, transplantations of HSCs from bone marrow have been used to treat patients with blood disorders and cancers in order to restore normal blood production. Due to a shortage in donors for some patient groups, there is a pressing need to find alternative sources of HSCs. Umbilical cord blood (UCB), which is the blood remaining in the umbilical cord after birth, is a rich source of HSCs. After birth, the placenta and umbilical cord are normally discarded; but with consent from the mother, UCB can be collected, stored and later used for stem cell transplants into patients.
  While UCB is a useful source of HSCs, its clinical application is limited by the low numbers of HSCs contained in each cord and due to limited measures in place for quality control. The quality control of the majority of UCB samples in cord banks is des​cribed only by number of nucleated cells. To improve patient outcomes, it will be crucial to investigate and better define suitable criteria for quality control and selection of the best possible UCB samples for transplantations. To address these issues, this project aims to (1) investigate culture methods for expanding numbers of UCB-derived HSCs in the laboratory and (2) perform detailed characterization of UCB samples using modern genetic analysis and transplantation models, in order to help develop criteria that will be useful in predicting quality of UCB samples.

• REC name

  South East Scotland REC 01

• REC reference

  16/SS/0220

• Date of REC Opinion

  15 Dec 2016

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion