Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) were isolated from the Wharton's jelly tissue of human umbilical cords. Cells express mesenchymal antigens but are negative for hematopoietic markers. WJ-MSCs also express genes involved in neurogenesis and angiogenesis and can induce neural differentiation and neural cell migration via a paracrine mechanism.
Wharton's jelly (WJ) was diced, washed, treated with collagenase for 18 hours and further digested with trypsin (2.5%) for 30 minutes. Cells were plated and cultured in MesenCultTM medium for up to 8 passages.