title: Using human umbilical cord cells for tissue engineering: a comparison with skin cells.
abstract: The epithelial cells and Wharton׳s jelly cells (WJC) from the human umbilical cord have yet to be extensively studied in respect to their capacity to generate tissue-engineered substitutes for clinical applications. Our reconstruction strategy, based on the self-assembly approach of tissue engineering, allows the production of various types of living human tissues such as skin and cornea from a wide range of cell types originating from post-natal tissue sources. Here we placed epithelial cells and WJC from the umbilical cord in the context of a reconstructed skin substitute in combination with skin keratinocytes and fibroblasts. We compared the ability of the epithelial cells from both sources to generate a stratified, differentiated skin-like epithelium upon exposure to air when cultured on the two stromal cell types. Conversely, the ability of the WJC to behave as dermal fibroblasts, producing extracellular matrix and supporting the formation of a differentiated epithelium for both types of epithelial cells, was also investigated. Of the four types of constructs produced, the combination of WJC and keratinocytes was the most similar to skin engineered from dermal fibroblasts and keratinocytes. When cultured on dermal fibroblasts, the cord epithelial cells were able to differentiate in vitro into a stratified multilayered epithelium expressing molecules characteristic of keratinocyte differentiation after exposure to air, and maintaining the expression of keratins K18 and K19, typical of the umbilical cord epithelium. WJC were able to support the growth and differentiation of keratinocytes, especially at the early stages of air-liquid culture. In contrast, cord epithelial cells cultured on WJC did not form a differentiated epidermis when exposed to air. These results support the premise that the tissue from which cells originate can largely affect the properties and homoeostasis of reconstructed substitutes featuring both epithelial and stromal compartments.
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en organogénèse expérimentale de l'Université Laval/LOEX, Aile-R, Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, 1401, 18e Rue, Québec, QC, Canada G1J 1Z4; Axe Médecine Régénératrice-Centre de recherche FRQS du CHU de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada; Département de Chirurgie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: cindy.hayward.1@ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Cindy J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hayward
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en organogénèse expérimentale de l'Université Laval/LOEX, Aile-R, Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, 1401, 18e Rue, Québec, QC, Canada G1J 1Z4; Axe Médecine Régénératrice-Centre de recherche FRQS du CHU de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada; Département de Chirurgie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: Julie.fradette@chg.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fradette
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en organogénèse expérimentale de l'Université Laval/LOEX, Aile-R, Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, 1401, 18e Rue, Québec, QC, Canada G1J 1Z4; Axe Médecine Régénératrice-Centre de recherche FRQS du CHU de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada; Département de Chirurgie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: pascal.morissette-martin.1@ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Morissette Martin
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en organogénèse expérimentale de l'Université Laval/LOEX, Aile-R, Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, 1401, 18e Rue, Québec, QC, Canada G1J 1Z4; Axe Médecine Régénératrice-Centre de recherche FRQS du CHU de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: rinaguignard@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guignard
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en organogénèse expérimentale de l'Université Laval/LOEX, Aile-R, Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, 1401, 18e Rue, Québec, QC, Canada G1J 1Z4; Axe Médecine Régénératrice-Centre de recherche FRQS du CHU de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada; Département de Chirurgie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: Lucie.Germain@fmed.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Germain
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en organogénèse expérimentale de l'Université Laval/LOEX, Aile-R, Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, 1401, 18e Rue, Québec, QC, Canada G1J 1Z4; Axe Médecine Régénératrice-Centre de recherche FRQS du CHU de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada; Département de Chirurgie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: Francois.auger@fmed.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: François A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Auger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D000078404:Epidermal Cells; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: Epithelial cells; Epithelial differentiation; Tissue engineering; Tissue interactions; Umbilical cord; Wharton׳s jelly cells