Beside the use of hematopoietic stem cells or mature T-cells from peripheral blood, human umbilical cord blood represents a further somatic cell source. Endothelial cells from cord blood build up a thin layer of cells, the epithelium, which lines the interior surface of blood, and lymphatic vessels [61]. The isolation of epithelial progenitors from cord blood is ten times more efficient than from adult peripheral blood, which indicates that cord blood is more favorable as primary cell material. Another great advantage is that cord blood derived cells are a very “young,” and therefore fewer nuclear and mitochondrial mutations are present at the time point of cell harvesting and conservation [44]. Certainly, the procedure of harvesting and conservation of umbilical cord blood is highly expensive and needs to be performed directly after birth.
