Comparison of the hepatic differentiation potential of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Objective To compare the hepatic differentiation potential of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). Methods UC-MSCs and BM-MSCs derived from passage 3 were induced by IMDM supplemented with 20 μg/L HGF and 20 mg/L α-FGF. The medium was changed twice a week. The concentrations of albumin and urea nitrogen from cultural medium were measured to compare the differentiation ability of the two cells. We also examined the expression of hepatic related genes by real-time RT-PCR. Results UC-MSCs manifested significantly stronger proliferation potential than BM-MSCs. Both UC-MSCs and BM-MSCs could be induced into hepatocyte-like cells. The morphology of UC-MSCs tended to be more mature than BM-MSCs and they had more cytoplasmic granules. After 4 weeks, the levels of albumin and urea nitrogen from the cultural medium of the UC-MSCs group were significantly higher than the BM-MSCs group (P<0.05). Real-time PCR showed the expressions of four liver related genes CK18, G6P, HGF and ALB in the UC-MSCs group were significantly higher than the BM-MSCs group (P<0.05). Conclusion UC-MSCs had higher hepatic differentiation potential than BM-MSCs. Thus, UC-MSCs are more suitable than BM-MSCs for tissue engine-ering in the treatment of end-stage liver diseases. Key words: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs); Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs); Hepatocyte-like cells; Differentiation