Prospective Isolation of Murine and Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Based on Surface Markers

Figure 1

Prospective isolation of MSCs. Traditional MSC isolation by adherent culture on plastic tissue culture substrates (top). Following a period of prolonged culture, the majority of the contaminating cells are washed away or overgrown, enriching for CFU-Fs (colony formation). These MSCs have a spindle-shaped morphology and are capable of differentiating into adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteoblasts in vitro. Prospective isolation of MSCs by using specific markers via flow cytometry (bottom). This method allows the isolation of a pure population of active, multipotent MSCs (naïve MSCs) and avoids cellular contamination.