Differentiation of umbilical cord Wharton's jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells into cardiomyocytes using 5-azacytidine

Abstract

Objectives The objective of this article was to differentiate mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into cardiomyocytes. Background Cardiomyopathies resulted in permanent loss of cardiomyocytes as it had no ability of regeneration. This made MSCs a promising tool for cellular therapy because of their ability of self-renewal and multipotency. MSCs were considered ideal for cellular cardiomyoplasty as they can undergo full cardiogenic differentiation. Now it was believed that isolated cells from umbilical cord and expanded in vitro were a potential source of MSCs. Patients and methods An experimental study included 10 pregnant females due for delivery between October 2015 and April 2017. Umbilical cord samples and cord blood were collected from cesarean section patients, MSCs were cultured from umbilical cord tissue (Wharton's jelly). MSCs were subcultured in differentiating media containing azacytidine. Cardiomyocytes differentiation was detected by morphology of cardiomyocytes and immunophenotyping. Results MSCs were successfully isolated from 10 umbilical cord samples. MSCs showed positive expression of CD44 for umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs) mean ± SD (79.72 ± 5.85). It showed negative expression of CD34 for UCMSCs mean ± SD (1.08 ± 0.43). A significant statistical difference was found (P = 3.28 × 10−11) between MSCs and cardiomyocytes with respect to expression of troponin. A significant statistical correlation was seen (P = 0.001) between MSCs that showed positive expression of CD44 and cardiomyocytes. Conclusion By using azacytidine MSCs isolated from umbilical cord Wharton's jelly (UCWJ) can be differentiated into cardiomyocytes.