Int. J. Dev. Biol. 55: 181 - 187 (2011)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.103232sm

Vol 55, Issue 2

Growth factor-defined culture medium for human mesenchymal stem cells

Open Access | Original Article | Published: 3 February 2011

Sumiyo Mimura^1,2, Naohiro Kimura³, Mitsuhi Hirata¹, Daiki Tateyama¹, Midori Hayashida¹, Akihiro Umezawa⁴, Arihiro Kohara¹, Hiroki Nikawa², Tetsuji Okamoto³ and Miho K. Furue*^,1

¹JCRB Cell Bank, Laboratory of Cell Cultures, Department of Disease Bioresources, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Osaka, ²Department of Oral Biology and Engineering, Division of Oral Health Science, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, ³Department of Molecular Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery, Division of Frontier Medical Science, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima and ⁴Department of Reproductive Biology and Pathology, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are potential cellular sources of therapeutic stem cells as they have the ability to proliferate and differentiate into a wide array of mesenchymal cell types such as osteoblasts, chondroblasts and adipocytes. hMSCs have been used clinically to treat patients with graft vs. host disease, osteogenesis imperfect, or alveolar cleft, suggesting that transplantation of hMSCs is comparatively safe as a stem cell-based therapy. However, conventional culture medium for hMSCs contains fetal bovine serum (FBS). In the present study, we developed a growth factor-defined, serum-free medium for culturing hMSCs. Under these conditions, TGF-beta1 promoted proliferation of hMSCs. The expanded hMSC population expressed the human pluripotency markers SSEA-3, -4, NANOG, OCT3/4 and SOX2. Furthermore, double positive cells for SSEA-3 and a mesenchymal cell marker, CD105, were detected in the population. The potential to differentiate into osteoblasts and adipocytes was confirmed. This work provides a useful tool to understand the basic biological properties of hMSCs in culture.

Keywords

mesenchymal stem cell, serum-free culture, TGF-beta1