Download or read book Effects of Extracellular Matrices on Porcine Umbilical Cord Matrix Stem Cells written by Kelley Elizabeth Bryan and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The three transcription factors, Nanog, Oct-4 and Sox-2, are central regulators of pluripotency in embryonic stem cells. Porcine umbilical cord (PUC) matrix stem cells also express these transcription factors. Wharton's jelly is composed of an extracellular matrix high in hyaluronic acid and various collagens and serves as a reservoir for several growth factors and cytokines. We expect that Wharton's jelly includes a stem cell niche that provides a microenvironment that maintains and supports the stem-cell characteristics of PUCs. The mechanisms by which the PUCs remain primitive within the Wharton's jelly are unknown. We developed methods for producing an extracellular matrix product extracted from porcine Wharton's jelly that we named Pormatrix (PMX). When PMX is incubated at 37°C, it becomes a matrical gel that provides a matrix allowing PUC attachment and growth. Concentrating the protein in PMX by filtration provides a low molecular weight by-product which we refer to as flow through (FT). In Experiment 1, PUCs were seeded on Pormatrix, Matrigel or plastic substrates in the presence or absence of FT. PUCs cultured on Matrigel, Matrigel+FT, Plastic+FT and PMX had higher expression of Nanog compared to PUCs cultured on PMX+FT (P-value