Immunophenotypic comparison of heterogenous non-sorted versus sorted mononuclear cells from human umbilical cord blood: a novel cell enrichment approach

Human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) has been the preferred source of stem cells for the treatment of haematological malignancies and genetic disorders. This is primarily due to its non-invasiveness, high accessibility with relative ease of isolation. Still failures do prevail due to its heterogeneity and lesser frequency of MSC identified in UCB. This study, thus, employs a cell enrichment technology to improve its therapeutic efficacy. This was achieved by immunophenotypic comparison of stem cells isolated from the heterogenous non-sorted mononuclear cells (MNCs), linage depleted (Lin+ and Lin-) fractions obtained from magnetic activated cell sorter (MACS) and sorted MNCs obtained by fluorescent activated cell sorter (FACS). The markers under consideration were CD29, CD44, CD34, CD45, CD133, CD90 and CD117. FACS sorted MNCs were rich in naive stem cell population, whereas non-sorted MNCs and lineage depleted fractions were found to be rich in progenitors. Thus, we suggest that a combination therapy of both sorted population might serve as an alternative valuable tool in treating haematologic/genetic disorders. However, further research on cell enrichment technology might give a clue for improved cell based therapy in regenerative medicine.