Assess The Pluripotency of Caprine Umbilical Cord Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Cells By RT-PCR Analysis of Early Transcription Factor Nanog

Objective- In the present study we investigated the isolation protocol, population doublingtime (PDT) and the expression of a pluripotential gene by RT-PCR analysis of earlytranscription factor Nanog in caprine umbilical cord (CUC) Wharton s jelly mesenchymalcells (WJMCs).Design- Experimental in vitro study.Animals- Four mix breed goat.Procedures- CUCs were collected from abattoir pregnant uteri and their Wharton s jellies(WJs) were cut into 2×2 mm2 segments for explanting. 8-10 segments were explanted intoeach 35 mm culture dish. WJ explants were removed 5 days after plating and the remainingadherent cells were cultured for another 5 days. Isolated cells were histochemically assayedfor the presence of alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity. RT-PCR was used to assess thepresence of Nanog mRNA. Besides, in this study the growth kinetic was evaluated for theisolated cells.Results- CUC isolated cells displayed spindle-form and small round-shape with highnucleus. Confluent cells formed colonies that indicated AP activity. Initial seedingconcentration of 2 × 104 CUC-WJMCs resulted in shorter PDT compared to fetal fibroblasts(46.57 vs. 54.29 hours, respectively). Expression of Nanog was undetectable in 9th passage ofCUC-WJMCs. Conclusion and Clinical Relevance- CUC contains an easily obtainable source ofmesenchymal cells which exhibit stem cells properties but probably these cells are notpluripotent.