Significant Improvement in Survival after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation during a Period of Significantly Increased Use, Older Recipient Age, and Use of Unrelated Donors Over the past four decades, allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation has evolved as a curative modality for patients with hematologic diseases. Researchers described changes in use, technique, and survival in a population-based cohort. [J Clin Oncol] Abstract | Press Release Immunological Properties of Extraembryonic Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived from Gestational Tissue Investigators compared the phenotype, proliferation rate, migration, immunogenicity, and immunomodulatory capabilities of human mesenchymal stromal cells derived from umbilical cord lining, umbilical cord blood, placenta, and Wharton’s jelly. [Stem Cells Dev] Abstract Conversion of Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Wharton’s Jelly to Dopamine Neurons Mediated by the Lmx1a and Neurturin In Vitro: Potential Therapeutic Application for Parkinson’s Disease in a Rhesus Monkey Model Scientists investigated a novel neuronal differentiation strategy in vitro with Lmx1α and neurturin (NTN). They transferred these two genes to hUC-MSCs by recombinant adenovirus combined with Lmx1α regulatory factor and other inductor to improve the efficiency of inducing. Then those induced cells were implanted into the striatum and substantia nigra of MPTP lesioned hemi-parkinsonian rhesus monkeys. [PLoS One] Full Article Efficient Generation of Integration-Free iPS Cells from Human Adult Peripheral Blood Using BCL-XL Together with Yamanaka Factors Researchers successfully generated integration-free induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) from cord blood CD34+ cells with improved oriP/EBNA1-based episomal vectors (EV) using a strong spleen focus forming virus long terminal repeat promoter. They showed that Yamanaka factors (OCT4, SOX2, MYC, and KLF4)-expressing EV can also reprogram adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells into pluripotency, yet at a very low efficiency. They found that inclusion of BCL-XL increases the reprogramming efficiency by approximately ten-fold. [PLoS One] Full Article Metabolic Glycoengineering of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells with N-Propanoylmannosamine Scientists showed by mass spectrometric analysis of cell surface N-glycans that about half of N-acetylneuraminic acid was replaced by N-propanoylneuraminic acid in the N-glycans of human umbilical cord blood derived mesenchymal stromal cells supplemented with N-propanoylmannosamine. [Glycobiology] Abstract Neutrophilic Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Cord Blood Modulate Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses Investigators demonstrated that a distinct myeloid-derived suppressor cell subset with a neutrophilic / granulocytic phenotype is highly increased in cord blood compared to peripheral blood of children and adults. [Clin Exp Immunol] Abstract | Full Article Optimizing Donor Selection for Public Cord Blood Banking: Influence of Maternal, Infant, and Collection Characteristics on Cord Blood Unit Quality Characteristics of 5267 cord blood units (CBUs) were retrospectively analyzed. High-quality CBUs were defined as those with higher postprocessing total nucleated cell count with CD34+ and colony-forming units (CFUs) in the upper quartile. Factors associated with higher CD34+ or CFU content included a shorter interval from collection to processing, younger gestational age, Caucasian race, higher birthweight, and larger collection volumes. [Transfusion] Abstract Identification of Endothelial Cell Surface Antigens Encoded by Genes Other than HLA. A Combined Immunoprecipitation and Proteomic Approach for the Identification of Antigens Recognized by Antibodies against Endothelial Cells in Transplant Recipients Researchers attempted to characterize endothelial cell surface antigens to which antibodies were produced during graft rejection. They used a panel of endothelial cells from umbilical cord veins and found that antibodies with a polymorphic pattern in the panel appeared to correlate with transplant failure of kidney allografts and with the development of transplant-related coronary artery disease in heart transplant recipients. [Hum Immunol] Abstract |