Cord Lining Research Articles

Simple Procedure for the Isolation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Different Parts of the Human Umbilical Cord

The umbilical cord and placenta are both sources of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are promising for cell-based therapy. Furthermore, compared to other MSCs sources, they are easy to obtain with no invasive procedures. This study presents an adapted method for stem cell isolation from three different parts of the human umbilical cord, including Wharton’s jelly (WJ), cord lining (CL), and cord-placenta junction (CPJ). The isolation consists of sample preparation, tissue dissection into distinct anatomical regions, mincing and enzyme digestion, and explant culturing. In addition, we monitored when the cells migrated from the explant to the bottom of the cell culture dish and passed the cells after they became confluent. This study found that WJ cells were the first to reach confluence at Passage 0 (P0). In contrast, CL cells needed the longest time to get confluence at P0 but displayed faster cell growth after subsequent passages (P1-P2). In addition, CPJ cells showed growth retardation after P1 and P2. Altogether, we could extract the MSCs from umbilical cord tissue explants by using DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS, 100 IU/mL penicillin, and 100 μg/mL streptomycin as general cell culture medium and omitting the use of gentamicin. However, the MSCs may need a more complex specified medium for optimum cell regeneration for further cell expansion.Keywords: mesenchymal stem cells, umbilical cord, Wharton’s jelly, cord lining, cord-placenta junction.

Mesenchymal stem cells derived from different perinatal tissues donated by same donors manifest variant performance on the acute liver failure model in mouse

BackgroundMesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from different tissues have variant biological characteristics, which may induce different performances in the treatment of diseases. At present, it is difficult to know which type of MSC is most suitable for acute liver failure (ALF), and there is no parallel study to compare MSCs from different tissues of the same donor.MethodsIn this study, we derived MSCs from three different perinatal tissues of the same donor: cord lining (CL), cord–placenta junction (CPJ) and fetal placenta (FP), respectively, for compared gene expression profiles by transcriptome sequencing, and ability of proliferation and immune regulation in vitro. In addition, the therapeutic effects (e.g., survival rate, histological evaluation, biochemical analysis) of CL-MSCs, FP-MSCs and CPJ-MSCs on ALF mouse model were compared.ResultsThe transcriptome analysis showed that FP-MSCs have significantly high expression of chemokines compared to CPJ-MSCs and CL-MSCs, similar to the q-PCR result. Of note, we found that CPJ-MSCs and FP-MSCs could improve the survival rate of mice with ALF induced by carbon tetrachloride, but CL-MSCs had no difference with Sham group. Moreover, we also found that biomarkers of ALF (e.g., MDA, SOD and GSH-px) significantly improved post-CPJ-MSCs and FP-MSCs treatment, but not CL-MSCs and Sham group. However, CL-MSCs treatment leads to inflammatory reaction in the early stage (day 3) of ALF treatment but not found with other groups.ConclusionsIt is important to select the MSCs derived from different tissues with variant performance for therapeutic purpose, and the CPJ-MSCs and FP-MSCs cells can significantly improve the syndrome of ALF which is highly recommended for a potential therapeutic options for ALF.

Quantitative Analysis of SSEA3+ Cells from Human Umbilical Cord after Magnetic Sorting

Multilineage-differentiating stress-enduring (Muse) cells are a population of pluripotent stage-specific embryonic antigen 3 (SSEA3)+ mesenchymal stem cells first described by Mari Dezawa in 2010. Although some investigators have reported SSEA3+ mesenchymal cells in umbilical cord tissues, none have quantitatively compared SSEA3+ cells isolated from Wharton’s jelly (WJ) and the cord lining (CL) of human umbilical cords (HUCs). We separated WJ and the CL from HUCs, cultured mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) isolated from these two tissues with collagenase, and quantified the percentage of SSEA3+ cells over three passages. The first passage had 5.0% ± 4.3% and 5.3% ± 5.1% SSEA3+ cells from WJ and the CL, respectively, but the percentage of SSEA3+ cells decreased significantly (P < 0.05) between P0 and P2 in the CL group and between P0 and P1 in the WJ group. Magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) markedly enriched SSEA3+ cells to 91.4% ± 3.2%. Upon culture of the sorted population, we found that the SSEA3+ percentage ranged from 62.5% to 76.0% in P2–P5 and then declined to 42.0%–54.7% between P6 and P9. At P10, the cultures contained 37.4% SSEA3+ cells. After P10, we resorted the cells and achieved 89.4% SSEA3+ cells in culture. The procedure for MACS-based enrichment of SSEA3+ cells, followed by expansion in culture and a re-enrichment step, allows the isolation of many millions of SSEA3+ cells in relatively pure culture. When cultured, the sorted SSEA3+ cells differentiated into embryoid spheres and survived 4 weeks after transplant into a contused Sprague-Dawley rat spinal cord. The transplanted SSEA3+ cells migrated into the injury area from four injection points around the contusion site and did not produce any tumors. The umbilical cord is an excellent source of fetal Muse cells, and our method allows the practical and efficient isolation and expansion of relatively pure populations of SSEA3+ Muse cells that can be matched by human leukocyte antigen for transplantation in human trials.

Neuropotency and Neurotherapeutic Potential of Human Umbilical Cord Stem Cell’s Secretome

Recent studies have revealed that the therapeutic effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is due to their secretome. Secretome is considered to be advantageous over cells, because of less chances of teratoma formation and no cell genome variability of donor and recipient. The current study aimed to screen the secretome of cord lining (CL) and Wharton jelly (WJ) of human umbilical cord stem cells and their functionality. Explants culture of human CL and WJ were characterized for classical MSC markers, pluripotency for germ layer expression then studied for their neurosphere and neurogenesis ability. These stem cells were screened for the expression of trophic factors (BDNF/GDNF/CNTF/NT3/NT4/NGF/FGF1/FGF2/VEGF/HGF/IGF/EGF/PlGF/IFN gamma/TNF-α/IL-1b/IL-4/IL-10/IFN-α1/TGF-β). Cells were cultured under serum-free conditions for 48 h and the conditioned media (CM) were collected. Functional effect of CM was analyzed on SHSY5Y, U87MG, and endothelial cells for proliferation/differentiation/anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic effects respectively. CL and WJ cells showed positive for MSC markers and negative for hematopoietic lineage. Both stem cells exhibited highly proliferative phenotype with normal karyotype even after several passages. All the major growth factors were expressed at varying levels expect CNTF. Cells illustrated the expression of various inflammatory modulators except IL-10 and elucidated anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic effect. These cells formed neurosphere in vitro and upon neuronal induction, expressed mature neuronal markers. CM enhanced SHSY5Y cell proliferation and differentiation. Easily accessible human umbilical cord stem’s secretome can have potential therapeutic effect in neurodegenerative disease. Cellular secretions from human umbilical cord stem cells have the potential property to exert neuroprotective effect. Hence, instead of using cells as the therapeutics, the cellular secretions can be potentially used to achieve clinical healing/repair of degenerative tissues of our nervous system.

Isolation and Characterization of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Human Umbilical Cord and Fetal Placenta.

The human umbilical cord (UC) and placenta are non-invasive, primitive and abundant sources of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) that have increasingly gained attention because they do not pose any ethical or moral concerns. Current methods to isolate MSCs from UC yield low amounts of cells with variable proliferation potentials. Since UC is an anatomically-complex organ, differences in MSC properties may be due to the differences in the anatomical regions of their isolation. In this study, we first dissected the cord/placenta samples into three discrete anatomical regions: UC, cord-placenta junction (CPJ), and fetal placenta (FP). Second, two distinct zones, cord lining (CL) and Wharton's jelly (WJ), were separated. The explant culture technique was then used to isolate cells from the four sources. The time required for the primary culture of cells from the explants varied depending on the source of the tissue. Outgrowth of the cells occurred within 3 - 4 days of the CPJ explants, whereas growth was observed after 7 - 10 days and 11 - 14 days from CL/WJ and FP explants, respectively. The isolated cells were adherent to plastic and displayed fibroblastoid morphology and surface markers, such as CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, and CD105, similarly to bone marrow (BM)-derived MSCs. However, the colony-forming efficiency of the cells varied, with CPJ-MSCs and WJ-MSCs showing higher efficiency than BM-MSCs. MSCs from all four sources differentiated into adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic lineages, indicating that they were multipotent. CPJ-MSCs differentiated more efficiently in comparison to other MSC sources. These results suggest that the CPJ is the most potent anatomical region and yields a higher number of cells, with greater proliferation and self-renewal capacities in vitro. In conclusion, the comparative analysis of the MSCs from the four sources indicated that CPJ is a more promising source of MSCs for cell therapy, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering.

Isolation and Characterization of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Human Umbilical Cord and Fetal Placenta

The human umbilical cord (UC) and placenta are non-invasive, primitive and abundant sources of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) that have increasingly gained attention because they do not pose any ethical or moral concerns. Current methods to isolate MSCs from UC yield low amounts of cells with variable proliferation potentials. Since UC is an anatomically-complex organ, differences in MSC properties may be due to the differences in the anatomical regions of their isolation. In this study, we first dissected the cord/placenta samples into three discrete anatomical regions: UC, cord-placenta junction (CPJ), and fetal placenta (FP). Second, two distinct zones, cord lining (CL) and Wharton's jelly (WJ), were separated. The explant culture technique was then used to isolate cells from the four sources. The time required for the primary culture of cells from the explants varied depending on the source of the tissue. Outgrowth of the cells occurred within 3 - 4 days of the CPJ explants, whereas growth was observed after 7 - 10 days and 11 - 14 days from CL/WJ and FP explants, respectively. The isolated cells were adherent to plastic and displayed fibroblastoid morphology and surface markers, such as CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, and CD105, similarly to bone marrow (BM)-derived MSCs. However, the colony-forming efficiency of the cells varied, with CPJ-MSCs and WJ-MSCs showing higher efficiency than BM-MSCs. MSCs from all four sources differentiated into adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic lineages, indicating that they were multipotent. CPJ-MSCs differentiated more efficiently in comparison to other MSC sources. These results suggest that the CPJ is the most potent anatomical region and yields a higher number of cells, with greater proliferation and self-renewal capacities in vitro. In conclusion, the comparative analysis of the MSCs from the four sources indicated that CPJ is a more promising source of MSCs for cell therapy, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering.