Wharton’s Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Phenotypic Characterization and Optimizing Their Therapeutic Potential for Clinical Applications

Abstract

Wharton’s jelly (WJ) is a gelatinous tissue within the umbilical cord that contains myofibroblast-like stromal cells. A unique cell population of WJ that has been suggested as displaying the stemness phenotype is the mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). Because MSCs’ stemness and immune properties appear to be more robustly expressed and functional which are more comparable with fetal than adult-derived MSCs, MSCs harvested from the “young” WJ are considered much more proliferative, immunosuppressive, and even therapeutically active stem cells than those isolated from older, adult tissue sources such as the bone marrow or adipose. The present review discusses the phenotypic characteristics, therapeutic applications, and optimization of experimental protocols for WJ-derived stem cells. MSCs derived from WJ display promising transplantable features, including ease of sourcing, in vitro expandability, differentiation abilities, immune-evasion and immune-regulation capacities. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that WJ-derived stem cells possess many potential advantages as transplantable cells for treatment of various diseases (e.g., cancer, chronic liver disease, cardiovascular diseases, nerve, cartilage and tendon injury). Additional studies are warranted to translate the use of WJ-derived stem cells for clinical applications.

Camel’s wharton jelly mesenchymal stem cell is a novel tool for regeneration of induced diabetes mellitus

“…In the present study, liver from diabetic rats treated with camel Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells showed improvement in the hepatic parenchyma and decrease the severity of lesions than liver of diabetic rats. These results agree with different studies suggested a supportive role of undifferentiated WJ-MSCs in rescuing injured liver functions [24]. In addition, WJ-MSCs have properties of anti-inflammatory and antifibrosis by endogenous secreted factors such as metalloproteinase [25].…”

Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Fetal Limb and Bone Marrow Share a Common Phenotype but Are Transcriptionally and Biologically Different

“…MSCs are obtained from several adult mesenchymal tissue sources such as: bone marrow [8], adipose tissue [9], synovial membrane [10], periosteum [11] and dental pulp [12] as well as from non-adult tissue sources such as the fetal tissue [13], amniotic fluid [14] umbilical cord tissue (Wharton's jelly) [15] and umbilical cord blood [16].…”

“…After expansion, both hES-MSCs, Flb-MSCs were seeded in T75 culture flasks for RNA extraction and in 12-well plates for staining during differentiation of adipocytes, and osteocytes, and in pellet form in 15 …”

Immunohistochemistry Evaluation of TGF-β1, SOX-9, Type II Collagen and Aggrecan in Cartilage Lesions Treated with Conditioned Medium of Umbilical Cord Mesencyhmal Stem Cells in Wistar Mice (Rattus novergicus)

“…Research studies have reported that MSC has the capability to differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, cardiomyocytes, myocytes, adipose cells and even neural cells. MSC can be isolated from multiple areas in adult tissue such as bone marrow, adipose tissue, umbilical cords, and peripheral blood [2,3,4]. Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (UC-MSCs) have proliferation and differentiation capabilities.…”