Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Mar 26, 2025; 17(3): 104566
Published online Mar 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i3.104566
Efficacy equivalence but hidden hurdles: Can serum-free human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells translate to clinically superior osteoarthritis therapy
Fang Lin, Ke-Xin Ma, Yue Ding, Xiao-Ting Liang
Fang Lin, Ke-Xin Ma, Xiao-Ting Liang, Translational Medical Center for Stem Cell Therapy and Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200120, China
Fang Lin, Xiao-Ting Liang, Shanghai Heart Failure Research Center, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200120, China
Yue Ding, Department of Organ Transplantation, Changzheng Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200000, China
Xiao-Ting Liang, Shenzhen Ruipuxun Academy for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Shenzhen 515100, Guangdong Province, China
Co-first authors: Fang Lin and Ke-Xin Ma.
Co-corresponding authors: Yue Ding and Xiao-Ting Liang.
Author contributions: Lin F and Ma KX contributed equally to this work and as co-first authors of this manuscript. Lin F, Ma KX, and Ding Y wrote the original draft; Ding Y and Liang XT contributed to reviewing and editing the manuscript, and supervised the project. Ding Y and Liang XT are co-corresponding authors. All the authors have read and approved the manuscript.
Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, No. 24ZR1459300 (to Xiao-Ting Liang); and the Pyramid Talent Project, No. YQ677 (to Yue Ding).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Ting Liang, Translational Medical Center for Stem Cell Therapy and Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, No. 150 Jimo Road, Shanghai 200120, China. liangxt@tongji.edu.cn
Received: December 25, 2024
Revised: January 21, 2025
Accepted: February 18, 2025
Published online: March 26, 2025
Processing time: 87 Days and 2 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This article evaluates the study by Xiao et al on using serum-free cultured human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (N-hUCMSCs) to treat knee osteoarthritis in a mouse model. Although N-hUCMSCs matched the efficacy of both serum-cultured hUCMSCs and hyaluronic acid, future research must clarify how N-hUCMSCs differ in long-term proliferative capacity and senescence profiles compared to their serum-cultured counterparts. Additionally, since hyaluronic acid is an established osteoarthritis treatment, demonstrating clear advantages, such as fewer side effects, more durable outcomes, or enhanced cartilage regeneration, will be crucial for justifying the clinical adoption of N-hUCMSCs.