Reduced Intensity Conditioning, Combined Transplantation of Haploidentical Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Patients with Severe Aplastic Anemia Investigators examined if transplantation of combined haploidentical hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) affected graft failure and graft-versus-host disease in patients with severe aplastic anemia. Stem cell grafts used a combination of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-primed bone marrow and G-CSF-mobilized peripheral blood stem cells of haploidentical donors and the culture-expanded third-party donor-derived umbilical cord MSCs, respectively. [PLoS One] Full Article Ex Vivo Expanded Human Regulatory T Cells Delay Islet Allograft Rejection via Inhibiting Islet-Derived Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 Production in CD34+ Stem Cells-Reconstituted NOD-scid IL2rγnull Mice Investigators developed a pre-clinical model of human islet transplantation by reconstituting NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice with cord blood-derived human CD34+ stem cells and demonstrated that although the engrafted human immune system mediated the rejection of human islets, their survival was significantly prolonged following adoptive transfer of ex vivo expanded human regulatory T cells. [PLoS One] Full Article Long-Term Outcome and Prognostic Factors of Unrelated Cord Blood Transplantation in Children with Hematological Malignancies: A Retrospective Study Using the Spanish Working Party for BMT in Children (GETMON) Database Outcomes of unrelated cord blood transplants were assessed in 172 consecutive children, median age 5 years (range: 0.5-18), with hematological malignancies treated at nine Spanish hospitals between February 1996 and April 2009. [Bone Marrow Transplant] Abstract Generation of Tunable Glycosaminoglycan Hydrogels to Mimic Extracellular Matrices Scientists present a novel methodology for the extraction, purification and separation of glycosaminoglycans from umbilical cord obtained from two different species, human and pig. [J Tissue Eng Regen Med] Abstract Hierarchical Maturation of Innate Immune Defences in Very Preterm Neonates Using standardized protocols, researchers assayed multiple inflammatory cytokine responses to three prototypic Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists, i.e. TLR4 (lipopolysaccharide), TLR5 (flagellin) and TLR7/8 (R848), and to the non-TLR retinoic acid-inducible gene I-like receptor agonist, in cord blood mononuclear cells from neonates born before 33 weeks of gestation and at term. [Neonatology] Abstract Intrathecal Injection of Human Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells Attenuates Spinal Cord Ischemic Compromise in Rats Researchers evaluated the use of human umbilical cord blood stem cells to attenuate the neurological effects of spinal cord ischemia induced by high thoracic aorta occlusion. [Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg] Full Article |