Cryopreservation is the Clinical Method of Preserving the Umbilical Cord

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Cryopreservation is the Clinical Method of
Preserving the Umbilical Cord

• Stem cell therapy in India

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Source of Umbilical Cord Blood

• Umbilical cord was at first discovered in 1974,
  as the main source of hematopoietic stem cells as
  well as the progenitor cells. The first
  transplantation of the umbilical cord was done in
  1988 for the treatment Fanconi Anemia in France. 
• Earlier the tissues of the umbilical cord were
  considered as a waste but in the past decade, it
  has been seen that these tissues can be used for
  deriving mesenchymal stem cells, from various
  compartments of the umbilical cord. 

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Source of Umbilical Cord Blood

• The main disadvantage is the transient nature of
  the tissue of the Umbilical cord as it is only
  available for a short time of period after
  postpartum. However, cryopreservation can be used
  for the preservation of umbilical cord and its
  components. Here you can get the details about
  the cryopreservation of the different types of
  umbilical cord vessels.

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1. Cryopreservation of Umbilical Cord-derived
vessel

• The UC blood vessels are cut off in an
  appropriate diameter without any branches. It
  makes the UC derived vessels as the most
  effective for the cryopreservation. The process
  of cryopreservation of the umbilical cord does
  not infer the preservation of the components of
  the cell.
• So, the medium of cryopreservation is composed up
  off saline solution. The cryopreservation of the
  cord blood vessels can be preserved in the walls
  of blood vessels.

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2. Cryopreservation of Whartons jelly

• Whartons jelly is a gelatinous substance which
  cannot be found in the human body after the
  birth. It helps in protecting the blood vessels
  and provides flexibility to the cord. 
•  It consists of a huge amount of growth factors
  and components of the extracellular matrix as
  collagen, sulfated glycosaminoglycans, and
  hyaluronic acid.

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3. Cryopreservation of the UC cellular component

• The process of cryopreservation allows
  preservation in both suspensions as well as whole
  tissue fragmentation. Contemporary
  cryopreservation technologies support the
  long-term preservation of the cells that can
  preserve the adipose tissue, follicle tissue,
  fragments of bone marrow, ovarian and testicular
  tissues after thawing. 
• The umbilical cord tissue must be processed
  before the storage so that it can reduce the
  time, expenses of the material help in storing
  the cells in natural environments, and the cells
  can be isolated as well as expanded as per
  requirements.

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4. Prospects of UC banking

• UC derived cells are needed for the treatment of
  cardiovascular diseases, failures of skeletal
  muscles, neurological autoimmune disorders. So,
  there is a huge demand for the preservation of
  the blood vessels, cellular component, and WJ. 
• The effectiveness of obtaining cells from the
  thawed tissues of the umbilical cord is mainly
  affected by the cryoprotectant medium, protocol
  for isolation of cells and the mode of freezing.

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Different Methods of Processing

• cord blood that leads to the purification of the
  cord blood before the preservation of the final
  product. Once the cells are being isolated and
  are extracted from the RBCs and plasma.
• They are then mixed with the cryoprotectant and
  are stored in a cryo-bag by a process known as
  controlled freezing. This process is done for the
  long-term preservation of cells so that they can
  be used in future for the treatment of various
  kinds of untreatable diseases.

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References

• https//www.cordlifeindia.com/blog/cryopreservatio
  n-clinical-method-preserving-umbilical-cord/
• https//www.cordlifeindia.com/blog/cord-blood-bank
  ing-need-know-preservation-uc-important/