Mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)

MSCs were first described in bone marrow and are now studied from multiple tissue sources, including adipose tissue and perinatal tissue such as Wharton's jelly. The ISCT published minimal MSC criteria in 2006.

No MSC-based product currently holds FDA approval for orthopedic use, and MSC identity is an in-vitro laboratory finding, not a description of what happens when a product is used clinically. A 2026 analysis of six commercial WJ products found low cell counts and viability with only rare viable MSCs, and a 2021 study found no colony-forming MSCs in five cord products.

The more useful question for a buyer is not whether a supplier uses the word MSC, but whether lot-specific laboratory data on viability, marker expression and colony-forming capacity is available to review. That data, not the label, supports or fails to support an MSC-related claim for a given lot.

Buyers evaluating any regenerative biologic described as MSC-containing should ask for the underlying marker and viability data rather than accepting the label at face value.