Comparison of Explant-Derived and Enzymatic Digestion-Derived MSCs and the Growth Factors from Wharton’s Jelly

Wharton’s jelly is not only one of the most promising tissue sources for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) but also a source of natural growth factors. To prove that we can get both natural growth factors and MSCs from Wharton’s jelly, we compared cellular characteristics and the level of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) from samples using the explant culture method to those derived from the traditional enzymatic culture method. The levels of bFGF were 27.0±11.7 ng/g on day 3, 15.6±11.1 ng/g on day 6, and decreased to 2.6±1.2 ng/g on day 14. The total amount of bFGF released was 55.0±25.6 ng/g on explant culture. Compared with the traditional enzymatic digestion method, the explant culture method showed a tendency to release higher levels of bFGF in supernatant media for the first week of culture, and the higher cellular yield at passage 0 (4.89±3.2×105/g versus 1.75±2.2×105/g, P=0.01). In addition, the genes related to mitosis were upregulated in the explant-derived MSCs.