Tissue Engineering Group, Department of Histology, School of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
ibs.GRANADA, Biohealth Institute, Granada, Spain.
Tissue Eng Part B Rev. 2020 Aug;26(4):301-312. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEB.2019.0257. Epub 2020 Mar 20.
Human Wharton's jelly stem cells (HWJSC) can be efficiently isolated from the umbilical cord, and numerous reports have demonstrated that these cells can differentiate into several cell lineages. This fact, coupled with the high proliferation potential of HWJSC, makes them a promising source of stem cells for use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, their real potentiality has not been established to date. In the present study, we carried out a systematic review to determine the multilineage differentiation potential of HWJSC. After a systematic literature search, we selected 32 publications focused on the differentiation potential of these cells. Analysis of these studies showed that HWJSC display expanded differentiation potential toward some cell types corresponding to all three embryonic cell layers (ectodermal, mesodermal, and endodermal), which is consistent with their constitutive expression of key pluripotency markers such as OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG, and the embryonic marker SSEA4. We conclude that HWJSC can be considered cells in an intermediate state between multipotentiality and pluripotentiality, since their proliferation capability is not unlimited and differentiation to all cell types has not been demonstrated thus far. These findings support the clinical use of HWJSC for the treatment of diseases affecting not only mesoderm-type tissues but also other cell lineages. Impact statement Human Wharton's jelly stem cells (HWJSC) are mesenchymal stem cells that are easy to isolate and handle, and that readily proliferate. Their wide range of differentiation capabilities supports the view that these cells can be considered pluripotent. Accordingly, HWJSC are one of the most promising cell sources for clinical applications in advanced therapies.
人脐带华通氏胶干细胞（HWJSC）可从脐带中高效分离得到，并且大量报道表明这些细胞可分化为多种细胞谱系。这一事实，加上 HWJSC 的高增殖潜能，使它们成为组织工程和再生医学中干细胞的有前途的来源。然而，其真正的潜能尚未得到确定。在本研究中，我们进行了系统评价以确定 HWJSC 的多能性分化潜能。经过系统的文献检索，我们选择了 32 篇专注于这些细胞分化潜能的出版物。对这些研究的分析表明，HWJSC 显示出向对应于三个胚胎细胞层（外胚层、中胚层和内胚层）的某些细胞类型扩展的分化潜能，这与它们关键多能性标志物（如 OCT4、SOX2 和 NANOG）的组成型表达以及胚胎标志物 SSEA4 一致。我们得出结论，HWJSC 可以被认为是多能性和多潜能性之间的中间状态的细胞，因为它们的增殖能力不是无限的，并且迄今为止尚未证明它们可以分化为所有细胞类型。这些发现支持将 HWJSC 用于治疗不仅影响中胚层型组织而且还影响其他细胞谱系的疾病的临床应用。
