Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from umbilical cord tissue, after the removal of the cord vessels. Cells express mesenchymal stem cell-specific markers and have chondrogenic, adipogenic, and osteogenic differentiation potential.
Umbilical cords were rinsed several times in sterile phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) to remove blood components, and then cut into small pieces (2–3 cm). Cord vessels were removed to avoid endothelial cell contamination and the Wharton's jelly parts of the cord were cut into small pieces and seeded into tissue-culture flasks in low-glucose Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (LG-DMEM) supplemented with fetal bovine serum (10%, FBS), penicillin/streptomycin (100 U/ml ).