title: Characterization of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells following tissue mass culture.
abstract: The human umbilical cord represents a promising resource of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). In order to improve our understanding of MSCs derived from human umbilical cord (UC-MSCs), we isolated UC-MSCs from human umbilical cord tissues through a direct culture approach. We performed a comprehensive characterization of these cells based on analyses of morphology, growth features, cell surface antigen markers and differentiation capacity. All these analyses validated their stem cell nature. The UC-MSCs presented a spindle-shaped morphology and could be subcultured for up to 15 passages without losing their cellular features. Moreover, these UC-SMCs presented an expression profile of cell surface antigens similar to other MSCs: positive for CD44, CD90, and CD105 expression and negative for CD34, CD31, and CD45 expression. Differentiation assays further validated the multipotency of UC-MSCs by inducing these cells into osteoblasts, adipocytes and functional hepatocytes. Our studies clearly demonstrated that UC-MSCs resemble other types of MSCs in many aspects and have a great potential to be applied in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University Department of Nephropathy Changchun China.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Norman Bethune Medical College of Jilin University Department of Histology and Embryology Changchun China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Norman Bethune Medical College of Jilin University Department of Histology and Embryology Changchun China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Norman Bethune Medical College of Jilin University Department of Histology and Embryology Changchun China.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Norman Bethune Medical College of Jilin University Center of Morphology Changchun China.
authors.forename: K X
authors.initials: KX
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Norman Bethune Medical College of Jilin University Department of Histology and Embryology Changchun China jiangwenhua468&commat;163.com.
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000166:cytology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology*