Abstract
Background aims. Stem cells are particularly attractive for many cell-based therapeutic interventions because of their ability to self-renew and their capacity to differentiate into site-specific differentiating cells. Restoration of the integrity of epithelial continuity is an essential aspect of wound repair and tissue regeneration. We are currently looking at the potential of human umbilical cord lining cells as a source of epithelial stem cells with appropriate differentiation capacity for potential epidermal reconstitution. Methods. We isolated human umbilical cord lining epithelial cells (CLEC) and characterized their phenotype from the perspective of proliferative potential, telomere length, expression of epidermal differentiation markers, as well as stem cell-specific markers, and clonogenicity. Their potential for epidermal reconstitution was investigated in an organotypic culture model. Results. The results demonstrated that CLEC present a long telomere length and have a relatively high proliferative potential and passaging ability in culture. CLEC display some of the stem cell-specific markers for epithelial as well as pluripotent stem cells, including CK19, p63, OCT-4, SSEA-4, TRA-1–60, SOX2 and Nanog. CLEC are capable of generating a fully stratified epithelium in organotypic culture. Conclusions. The potential of CLEC to be used in clinical applications for specialized epithelial reconstruction is still unexplored. The demonstration that CLEC have stem cell-like properties and are capable of generating fully stratified epithelium provides support for their potential clinical application in epidermal reconstitution.
Acknowledgments
We thank Mr Billy Leung for his assistance for flow cytometry experiments. This work was supported in part by grants from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR (to LH, reference number CUHK4550/05M) and the Research Committee Funding of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (to AB, reference number 2006.1.084; and to LH, reference number 2006.1.088).
Declaration of interest: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.