Wharton’s Jelly Stem Cells

Abstract

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been always considered as a useful option for therapeutic purposes. MSCs can be derived from many sources, perhaps one of the most therapeutically valuable sources is the Wharton’s Jelly (WJ), a gelatinous tissue layer found within the umbilical cord that contains myofibroblast-like stromal cells. Previous studies investigating Wharton’s Jelly-derived MSCs reveal that they have more powerful proliferative, immunosuppressive and therapeutic activities compared to MSCs derived from adult bone marrow or adipose tissue. The present review discusses the phenotypic features, potential therapeutic uses and optimization of experimental protocols for WJ-derived stem cells. Previous work show successful results when WJ-MSCs were used as transplantable cells for treatment of various diseases (e.g., cancer, chronic liver disease, cardiovascular diseases, nerve, cartilage, tendon injury and degenerated intervertebral disc). These positive results are attributed to favorable transplantable features the WJ-MSCs display which include ease of sourcing, in vitro expandability, differentiation abilities, immune-evasion and immune-regulation capacities. However, further research work is demanded to harness the benefits of WJ-MSCs into clinical application.