Concise Review: Wharton's Jelly-Derived Cells Are a Primitive Stromal Cell Population

Here, the literature was reviewed to evaluate whether a population of mesenchymal stromal cells derived from Wharton's jelly cells (WJCs) is a primitive stromal population. A clear case can be made for WJCs as a stromal population since they display the characteristics of MSCs as defined by the International Society for Cellular Therapy; for example, they grow as adherent cells with mesenchymal morphology, they are self-renewing, they express cell surface markers displayed by MSCs, and they may be differentiated into bone, cartilage, adipose, muscle, and neural cells. Like other stromal cells, WJCs support the expansion of other stem cells, such as hematopoietic stem cells, are well-tolerated by the immune…

• KI
  Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence
• JC
  Johnson Cancer Research Center, Kansas State University