Expanded Differentiation Capability of Human Wharton's Jelly Stem Cells Toward Pluripotency: A Systematic Review

Abstract

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, make 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 towards 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.