title: A xeno-free culture method that enhances Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stromal cell culture efficiency over traditional animal serum-supplemented cultures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) transplantation holds great promise for use in medical therapies. Several key features of MSCs, including efficient cell growth, generation of sufficient cell numbers and safety, as determined by teratoma formation, make MSCs an ideal candidate for clinical use. However, MSCs derived under standard culture conditions, co-cultured with animal by-products, are inappropriate for therapy because of the risks of graft rejection and animal virus transmission to humans. Alternative serum sources have been sought for stem cell production.
  
  
  METHODS
  We demonstrate for the first time that human serum from umbilical cord blood (hUCS) is an effective co-culture reagent for MSC production from Wharton's jelly MSCs (WJMSCs). Ten umbilical cords were used to generate parallel cultures of WJMSC lines under medium supplemented with hUCS and embryonic stem cell-qualified fetal bovine serum. The WJMSC lines from each medium were analyzed and compared with regard to cell line derivation, proliferation ability and characteristic stability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The phenotypic characteristics of WJMSC derived under either medium showed no differences. WJMSC lines derived under hUCS medium displayed comparable primary culture cell outgrowth, lineage differentiation capacity and cell recovery after cryopreservation compared with supplementation with embryonic stem cell-qualified fetal bovine serum medium. However, superior cell proliferation rates and retention of in vitro propagation (>22 passages) were observed in WJMSC cultures supplemented with hUCS. Additionally, more robust population doubling times were observed in hUCS-supplemented cultures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that hUCS is an efficient and effective serum source for animal product-free WJMSC line production and can generate MSC lines that may be appropriate for therapeutic use.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research and Development Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Suphakde
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Julavijitphong
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research and Development Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Suparat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wichitwiengrat
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Nednapis
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tirawanchai
authors.affiliation: Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Pornpimol
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruangvutilert
authors.affiliation: Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Chanchai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vantanasiri
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research and Development Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Electronic address: tatsanee.phe@mahidol.ac.th.
authors.forename: Tatsanee
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Phermthai
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D018920:Coculture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D059631:Wharton Jelly / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: Wharton's jelly stem cells; animal-free stem cell line; cord blood serum; mesenchymal stromal cells; umbilical cord blood; xeno-free stem cell