Abstract: Human umbilical cord Wharton′s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cell （hWJ-MSC） is a kind of adult stem cell which has self-renewal ability, multiline age differentiation potential. As isolated from discarded tissue (umbilical cord) after birth, they are considered wide resource, easy to be acquired and not restricted by ethics. Compared to other source of adult stem cells such as bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, hWJ-MSC has lower immunogenicity, higher proliferation, more primitive stem cell performance, which make hWJ-MSC become a new cell resource. hWJ-MSC has great therapeutic potential in cell transplantation, gene therapy for various diseases. In this review, we will discuss the biological characteristics, proliferation and differentiation potential, and immunological characteristics of hWJ-MSC, and mainly focus on the latest progress of their application on various diseases.

Key words: Stem cells, Mesenchymal stem cells, Umbilical cord, Therapy, Human umbilical cord Wharton′s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells