Research on Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Multipotent Progenitors

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a component of the stroma in multiple tissues, including bone marrow, adipose tissue, the umbilical cord (or Wharton’s Jelly), and others. MSCs are multipotent adult stem cells, meaning they can differentiate into multiple cell types. MSCs lineages include: fat tissue, cartilage, and bone. Given their ability to differentiate into multiple cell types, MSCs have been used to treat a number of diseases, such as neurodegenerative disease, arthritis, immune disorders, and cardiovascular disease.

MSCs are a great tool in scientific research as they can be maintained and expanded as undifferentiated stem cells, or induced to differentiate into mesodermal lineages when challenged with the appropriate culture conditions. This allows them to be used to study many facets of cell biology, including stem cell biology, stem cell differentiation, and mature adipocyte, chondrocyte, and osteocyte biology.

Lifeline® MSCs in Biomedical Engineering

Tungsten disulfide nanotubes (WSNTs) and molybdenum disulfide nanoplatelets (MSNPs) are being developed for biomedical applications and tissue engineering, and early studies have suggested that they may be safe for use in human cells. However, there have been no studies that have examined their effects on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). In a 2015 study, Rashkow et al. set out to determine whether WSNTs and MSNPs are toxic to MSCs. The researchers used NIH3T3 fibroblasts and Lifeline® human adipose-derived MSCs grown in StemLife medium for their studies. They found that MSCs and NIH3T3 cells differed slightly in the dose of WSNTs and MSNPs that were tolerated without cytotoxicity, but were able to establish a safe dose for each cell type. Given the importance of MSC differentiation, the researchers evaluated adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation in response to different concentrations of WSNTs and MSNPs and found that lower doses did not significantly alter the ability of MSCs to differentiate down these cell lineages. Together, this study establishes the tolerated doses of WSNTs and MSNPs in NIH3T3 fibroblasts and MSCs, which will inform future studies to develop these particles for biomedical engineering applications.

Lifeline® MSC Types and Associated Culture Medium

Lifeline® provides multiple types of MSCs, including:

• Normal human bone marrow MSCs: isolated from bone marrow aspirate.

• Normal human MSCs from Wharton’s Jelly: isolated from Wharton’s Jelly of the umbilical cord.

• Human adult adipose-derived MSCs: isolated from adult lipoaspirate.

• Normal human pre-adipocyte cells: derived from mature adipocytes that have been dedifferentiated.

All Lifeline® MSC types are optimized for expansion as undifferentiated stem cells in StemLife medium. These cells can also be differentiated into mesenchymal cell types using the appropriate Lifeline® medium differentiation kits: adipocytes (AdipoLife™), chondrocytes (ChondroLife™), or osteocytes (OsteoLife™).

Tell us how you are using Lifeline® cells for your research applications and your study could be featured here on our blog!