Retinoic acid as the stimulating factor for differentiation of wharton's jelly-mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocyte-like cells

ABSTRACT

Wharton's Jelly-Mesenchymal Stem Cells [WJ-MSCs] are pluripotent cells with differentiation capability into most cell lineages. The aim of the current work was to examine the role of Retinoic Acid [RA] in differentiation process of these cells into hepatocyte-like cells and determine the morphological and functional patterns. Human WJ-MSCs were extracted, cultured and expanded; after approximately 95% of confluence, the cells were treated with hepatogenic media containing RA. The cells were subsequently analyzed for morphological changes, glycogen storage, albumin production, and specific gene expression. WJ-MSCs expressed high levels of CD90 [93.6%] and CD105 [90.7%], but low levels of CD34 [0.3%] and CD45 [0.8%]. Albumin production had significant difference in the two groups [pcells as hepatocyte-like cells such as obtaining morphologic, functional, and alphaFP and HNF1-alpha expression patterns which in turn were higher in cells exposed to RA. Based on the data of present study, RA is an effective molecule in inducing differentiation of WJ-MSCs into hepatocyte-like cells; therefore, it may be considered as a promising factor for targeting therapy of liver disorders