Table 1.

Comparison of cell properties relevant to their application for cartilage treatment (number of pluses represent the scale where + means low, ++ moderate, +++ high, and ++++ very high).

Cells	AC	NC	CPs	BM-MSCs	AD-MSCs	Sy-MSCs	UB-MSCs	PB-MSCs	ESC	iPSCs
Source	autologous	autologous	autologous	autologous/allogenic	autologous	autologous	allogenic	autologous/allogenic	allogenic	autologous
Harvesting	difficult	moderate	difficult	difficult	moderate	difficult	easy	easy	difficult	easy
Availability	+	+	+	++	+++	+	+	+	++++	++++
Proliferation capacity	+	++	++	+++	+++	++++	++++	++++	++++	++++
Differentiation capacity	+	++	+++	+++	+	++++	+	+++	++++	++++
Safety issues	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes	yes
Ethical issues	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes	no