Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells(hUCB-MSCs) are regarded as an alternative source of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells because collection of cord blood is less invasive than that of bone marrow.hUCB-MSCs have recently been studied for evaluation of their potential as a source of cell therapy.In this review,the general characteristics of hUCBMSCs and their therapeutic effects on various diseases in vitro and in vivo will be discussed.