Dg. Phinney et al., Donor variation in the growth properties and osteogenic potential of humanmarrow stromal cells, J CELL BIOC, 75(3), 1999, pp. 424-436
Human marrow stromal cells (MSCs) were isolated from posterior illiac crest
marrow aspirates obtained from 17 healthy donors, ages 19-45 years, with n
o apparent physical disability. First passage hMSCs exhibited growth rates
in vitro that varied up to 12-fold between donors. No correlation between g
rowth rate and the age or gender of the donor was evident (P less than or e
qual to 0.05). When hMSCs were cultured without passage for eight days (sub
confluent cultures) or 22 days (confluent cultures) in the absence of any o
steogenic agonists, levels of alkaline phosphatase enzyme activity varied 4
0-fold and 10-fold, respectively, between donors. When exposed to osteo-ind
uctive media, donor populations also showed dramatic differences in levels
of bone-specific gene induction. Collectively, these data demonstrate that
hMSC cultures are composed of a heterogeneous mixture of cells at various s
tages of differentiation and with distinct osteogenic potentials. Differenc
es in both growth rate and ALP activity were evident in hMSC cultures Estab
lished from multiple aspirates obtained over a six month period from the sa
me donors. Therefore, it appears that cellular heterogeneity produced by th
e method of harvest is propagated within and among different donor populati
ons during culture expansion in vitro. J. Cell. Biochem. 75:424-436, 1999.
(C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.