Wharton’s jelly is one of the components of the umbilical cord. It is the jelly-like connective tissue within the umbilical cord. Histologically, the Wharton’s jelly consists essentially of collagen and ground substance like glycosaminoglycan, chondroitin and dermatan sulfate. They can also be found in the vitreous humor of the eyes but small quantity. Its primary function is to serve as a cushion for the umbilical arteries and veins. It also protects the umbilical vessels from mechanical accidents. The Wharton’s jelly breaks down the structures inside the umbilical when it experiences a change in temperature, thus aiding the natural degeneration and removal of the umbilical cord shortly after birth.
Asides from this, the Wharton’s jelly has an abundant quantity of stem cells. It’s a huge source of mesenchymal stem cells. Stem cells are cells that are capable of differentiating into more adult cells, and also form daughter stem cells. Wharton’s jelly stem cells have not been proven to differentiate into hematological stem cells like red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. However, the mesenchymal cells in the Wharton’s jelly can differentiate into non-hematological cells such as neurons, bone cells, cartilage cells, cardiac muscles, etc. They have a huge potential, especially in the treatment of heart diseases.
Wharton’s stem cell transplant has been important in the treatment of some diseases and conditions, such as in brain injuries.
Wharton’s Jelly And The Umbilical Cord
The umbilical cord is the connection between the fetus and the placenta. The Wharton is a component of the umbilical cord, and its job is to cushion and protect the umbilical vessels such as the umbilical arteries and vein from mechanical injuries like compression, twisting and so on. The umbilical cord has two other components, apart from the Wharton’s jelly. These are the two umbilical arteries and one vein. The Wharton’s jelly consists of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells. The Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells can be gotten from two specific zones, which are the perivascular zone and the inter-vascular zone. According to studies, it was noted that the Wharton’s jelly –Mesenchymal stem cells derived close to the umbilical vessels exhibited the potential to differentiate into more cells.
Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cell And Other Stem Cells
Apart from the Wharton’s jelly, stem cells can be extracted from different sources. They can be extracted from the embryo, bone marrow, umbilical cord, bloodstream and fat tissues. The stem cells from these numerous sources have been studied and compared. It was concluded that each of them has something unique. Furthermore, it was shown that the stem cells from the fat tissues were more suitable, as their mesenchymal stem cells have the largest frequency. Also, it was realized that all the stem cells collected from the different sources have the typical features of a stem cell. However, it was observed that the embryonic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into both hematological cells and non-hematological cells. Hematological cells include the red blood cells, white blood cells, and the platelets, while the non-hematological stem cells are bone cells, smooth muscle cells, cardiac muscle, cartilage tissues, nerves and so on.
The only challenge of embryonic stem cell is ethics. The inner cell mass of the embryos is often removed, and the remaining part discarded. This is seen by most people as abortion, which led the authorities of most governments to place a partial or total ban on it. Furthermore, the therapeutic properties of the stem cells from include anti-inflammation, and also paracrine features. It was noticed that the stem cells from the umbilical cord blood could be cloned more, and they can be reproduced for longer duration in culture when compared to others. Mesenchymal stem cells are only capable of differentiating into non-hematological cells, like bone cells, cartilage cells and so on.
Wharton Jelly Mesenchymal Therapy
- For the treatment of cancer: Wharton jelly stem cells has been proved to be the future for the treatment of cancer diseases. The Wharton jelly stem cells have a specific feature that makes them move towards any tumor growth in the body. Some studies have shown that the stem cells secrete some chemical substances that can impede and inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Although the mechanism has not been described yet, the two mechanisms described explains that the first line of action of the stem cells is to produce and release some proteolytic chemicals, which are capable of killing and inducing the cell death of cancer cells. It has also been said that the biological chemicals interrupt and stops the cell cycle of the diseased cells. Also, the stem cells increase the reaction of the immune system to cancer cells. On the one hand, cancer cells release cytokines and growth factors into the bloodstream, while on the other hand, the stem cells have receptors for growth factors and cytokine on their surfaces, so they tend to move towards the tumor cells. The proteolytic chemicals in the stem cells does the final damage to the tumor cells
- In the treatment of liver diseases: Stem cell therapy has emerged as the new approach to the management of liver diseases. Wharton’s jelly stem cells can differentiate into liver-like cells. Stem cell therapy is useful in conditions like liver cirrhosis, where a segment of the liver or the entire liver is damaged. The stem cells can repair and regenerate these cells. Also, Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells have been proven to have soma anti-inflammatory properties. In addition to this, they also have some anti-fibrosis features.
- Cardiovascular diseases: Wharton jelly stem cells have been shown to have a great potential in the treatment of heart diseases. An experiment was carried out on some sheep models that had mitral valve insufficiency. A new valve was developed for them, using Wharton’s jelly stem cells. The experiment yielded a good outcome. There are hopes that the same would be replicated in the nearest future on humans.
- They are useful in the repair of cartilage and bone diseases: Wharton jelly stem cells are useful in the treatment of injuries of the joints and cartilages. This is because mesenchymal stell cells can differentiate into bone cells and chondrocytes( cartilage cells)
For more information on this topic, visit iSTEMCELL.com
References
- Chondrogenesis of Mesenchymal Stem Cells In Vivo. (2012). Molecular Therapy, 20, p.S289.
Jin, H., Bae, Y., Kim, M., Kwon, S., Jeon, H., Choi, S., Kim, S., Yang, Y., Oh, W. and Chang, J. (2017). Comparative Analysis of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Bone Marrow, Adipose Tissue, and Umbilical Cord Blood as Sources of Cell Therapy.
Ma, O. and Chan, K. (2016). Immunomodulation by mesenchymal stem cells: Interplay between mesenchymal stem cells and regulatory lymphocytes. World Journal of Stem Cells, 8(9), p.268.
Maurer, M. (2011). Proteomic Definitions of Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Stem Cells International, 2011, pp.1-9.
