Wharton's jelly of the umbilical cord serves as a natural biomaterial to promote osteogenesis

• Published in: Biomaterials science 2024-12, Vol.12 (24), p.6284-6298
• Main Authors: Fu, Yu-Show, Tsai, Shang-Wen, Tong, Zhen-Jie, Yeh, Chang-Ching, Chen, Tien-Hua, Chen, Cheng-Fong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alkaline phosphatase; Animals; Biocompatibility; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Biocompatible Materials - pharmacology; Biomedical materials; Calcium; Cell Differentiation - drug effects; Cells, Cultured; Collagen; Computed tomography; Defects; Humans; Hyaluronic acid; Hyaluronic Acid - chemistry; Hyaluronic Acid - pharmacology; Maturation; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - cytology; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - drug effects; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - metabolism; Osteoblasts; Osteoblasts - cytology; Osteoblasts - drug effects; Osteoblasts - metabolism; Osteogenesis - drug effects; Polysaccharides; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Regeneration (physiology); Stem cells; Surgical implants; Umbilical cord; Umbilical Cord - cytology; Wharton Jelly - cytology
• ISSN: 2047-4830; 2047-4849; 2047-4849
• DOI: 10.1039/d3bm02137h

Various factors can contribute to bone damage or loss, presenting challenges for bone regeneration. Our study explores the potential clinical applications of two processed forms of Wharton's jelly of the human umbilical cord for treating bone loss. Wharton's jelly from fresh umbilical cords underwent two distinct processes: (1) frozen Wharton's jelly (WJF), preserved with cryoprotective agents, and (2) decellularized Wharton's jelly matrix (WJD), prepared only via lyophilization without cryoprotectants. Both WJD and WJF are rich in collagen, hyaluronan, and polysaccharide proteins. Notably, WJD exhibited a porous structure lacking nuclei from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells, unlike WJF. In direct contact experiments, WJD stimulated osteoblast migration, enhanced osteoblast maturation, and promoted calcium deposition for bone formation when administered to cultured rat osteoblasts. Furthermore, in transwell co-culture experiments, both WJD and WJF increased the rat osteoblast expression of RUNX2 and OPN genes, elevated alkaline phosphatase levels, and enhanced extracellular calcium precipitation, indicating their role in osteoblast maturation and new bone formation. Hyaluronic acid, one of the ingredients from WJD and WJF, was identified as a key component triggering osteogenesis. In vivo experiments involved creating circular bone defects in the calvarias of rats, where WJD and WJF were separately implanted and monitored over five months using micro-computerized tomography. Our results demonstrated that both WJD and WJF enhanced angiogenesis, collagen formation, osteoblast maturation, and bone growth within the bone defects. In summary, WJD and WJF, natural biomaterials with biocompatibility and nontoxicity, act not only as effective scaffolds but also promote osteoblast adhesion and differentiation, and accelerate osteogenesis. Wharton's Jelly in umbilical cord was prepared into WJF with MSCs and WJD without MSCs. WJF/WJD could act as great scaffolds to promote new bone formation and serve as natural therapeutic medical materials for bone regeneration.