About the Authors
- Ralitza Danova-Alt
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Affiliations Vita 34 AG, Leipzig, Germany, Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine (TRM), Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Andreas Heider
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Affiliation Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine (TRM), Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Dietmar Egger
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Affiliation Vita 34 AG, Leipzig, Germany
- Michael Cross
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Affiliation Department of Hematology, Oncology and Hemostaseology, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Rüdiger Alt
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* E-mail: ralt@trm.uni-leipzig.de
Affiliation Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine (TRM), Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Competing Interests
Ralitza Danova-Alt was employed by Vita34 AG during the course of this project. Dietmar Egger is employed by Vita 34 AG. Rüdiger Alt received co-funding and cord blood samples from Vita 34 AG while working on this project at the Universität Leipzig and is now employed by Vita 34. Co-funding and common scientific standards and goals for this project were defined in a formal agreement between Vita 34 AG and the Universität Leipzig. Vita 34 AG is a private cord blood bank. However, as the results of this study demonstrates cord blood derived VSEL cells to be devoid of stem cell potential, there is no obvious application of VSEL cells, and hence, no conceivable financial conflict of interest. There are no patents, products in development, or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: RD AH DE MC RA. Performed the experiments: RD AH RA. Analyzed the data: RD AH RA. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: DE RA. Wrote the paper: MC RA.