Biological characterization of chicken mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells from umbilical cord Wharton's jelly.

Mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells derived from Wharton's jelly of the umbilical cord (UCMSCs/UCMPCs) are multipotent, and can be differentiated in vitro into many cell types. Much work has been done on UCMSCs/UCMPCs from humans, mice, rabbits, and other mammals, but the relatively little literature has been published about these cells in chickens. In our work, we isolated USMSCs/USMPCs from chicken embryos. We characterized the isolated cells using immunofluorescence and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction techniques. Primary UCMSCs/UCMPCs were subcultured to passage 30 and growth curves for each passage determined. The growth curves at different passages were all typically sigmoidal. Isolated UCMSCs/UCMPCs were induced to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts, myocardial cells, and neural cells, and we were able to detect characteristic CD44, CD29, CD73, and CD71 cell surface markers. Our results suggest that UCMSCs/UCMPCs isolated from chickens possess similar biological characteristics to those from other species. Their multi-lineage differentiation capabilities herald a probable application for cellular transplant therapy in tissue engineering.