ObjectiveTo comprehensively analyze and compare the biological difference between bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and placenta-derived MSCs (PMSCs) in hypoxia and to extend the knowledge for seed cells selection. MethodsThe domestic and foreign related literature about the effects of hypoxia microenvironment on proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, paracrine secretion, migration, and homing ability of BMSCs and PMSCs were summarized and analysed. ResultsPMSCs proliferated much faster and more sensitive to the hypoxia than BMSCs; in addition, PMSCs showed stronger survivability. Similar to BMSCs, PMSCs can home to hypoxic-ischemic tissues efficiently, secrete a lot of growth factors and differentiate into tissue-specific cells to stimulate tissue regeneration. ConclusionPMSCs as the seed cells will have broad application prospects in the regenerative medicine.