Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Role of Regulatory Genes in Their Differentiation to Osteoblasts

Umbilical cord (UC) mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are being currently investigated as an alternative to bone marrow (BM) MSCs for bone repair and regeneration. Here, we describe the gene regulation of their differentiation to osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic precursors and demonstrate their tendency to differentiate toward the osteoblast lineage. Fibroblast-like cells from the Warthon's Jelly were cultured with dedicated media to obtain osteogenic-, adipogenic-, and chondrogenic-differentiated cells. After induction, a typical fibroblast-like shape with condensed fibers of F-actin was early noted in osteogenic-induced UC-MSCs, whereas those differentiating to adipocytes were flat with minor cytoskeleton relevance. Real-time PCR measured the transcription of master genes of the three lineages, thus revealing a remarkable up-regulation of Runx2 in osteogenic-induced cells with respect to both PPARg and SOX9 for adipogenic- and chondrogenic-differentiating UC-MSCs. However, TAZ, a coactivator of the nuclear transcription of Runx2 previously detected in BM-MSCs, was expressed in osteogenic-and, at lower magnitude, in adipogenic-induced cells, in keeping with its role in the reciprocal control of the differentiation between osteogenic-and adipogenic-induced cells. Its differential role in these cells was confirmed by its accumulation as protein product in the nuclei to activate Runx2 in osteogenic-differentiating UC-MSCs. These data emphasize the predominant expression by UC-MSCs of genes engaged in the osteogenic differentiation and their tendency to differentiate into osteoblasts, being similar in this respect to BM-MSCs. They may, thus, constitute a promising option for bone remodeling in regenerative medicine.