Umbilical Cord & Wharton’s Jelly

Taken together, the clinical implication of oxidative stress, telomere length, DNA damage and disease has impaired the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) isolated from aged patients. These changes in MSC biology indicate that aged patients may require an alternative source of stem cells for treatment. The high efficiency of Wharton’s Jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSC) recovery, the minimal ethical concerns associated with its acquirement and use, low immunogenicity, and the fact that they are from healthy, young donors make them an ideal source of MSC for autologous and allogeneic applications.

The amounts of peptide growth factors calculated per microgram of DNA are distinctly higher in Wharton’s jelly in comparison to the umbilical cord artery. Western blot analysis demonstrated that almost the entire amount of these factors is bound to high molecular weight components. Since the number of cells in Wharton’s jelly is very low and the amounts of extracellular matrix components are very high, it is concluded that the cells are strongly stimulated by peptide growth factors to produce large amounts of collagen and glycosaminoglycans.