Biological Characteristics of Mesenchymal Stem Cells during Ex Vivo Expansion

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been widely used in different areas of medicine because of their immunosupressive properties and influence on regeneration of the damaged tissues. The objective of this study was to examine the kinetics of growth (MSC from 4-3 passages had significantly higher proliferative activity compared with cultures of 10-12 passages), changes in immunophenotypic characteristics of human MSC in early (3-4) and late (10-12) passages when cultured in vitro as well as study of genetic stability. In the analyzed cultures of MSC was found normal karyotype (46, XY or 46, XX). In most of cultures studied MSC karyotype and the level of aneuploidy remained unchanged even after prolonged culturing.
The author's experience of ex vivo expansion of MSC using both standard medium DMEM with the supplementation of fetal bovine serum (FBS) and serum-free medium MesenCult MSC Basal Medium (Human) (StemCell technologies Inc.) with addition of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Stimulatory Supplements (Human) is presented. The influence of the type of medium on the growth and immunophenotype of MSC is analyzed. The study found that when cultured in serum-free medium proliferative potential of MSCs was lower.