Bone-like nodules formed by human bone marrow stromal cells: comparative study and characterization

Autologous bone marrow stromal cells have been proposed as an adjuvant in the treatment of bone nonunion. This cell therapy would require the establishment of culture conditions that permit the rapid expansion of these cells ex vivo while retaining their potential for further differentiation. Our aim was to achieve a full differentiation process using human bone marrow aspirates. We first analyzed the effects of mineralization medium (with ascorbic acid and phosphate) and dexamethasone (dex) during the primary culture of human bone marrow stromal (HBMS) cells on the proliferation/differentiation behavior of first-passage cells. The most appropriate schedule was then selected to further characterize this differentiation model. We showed that primary culture of HBMS cells in proliferation medium (DMEM supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum), with a 48-h treatment by mineralization medium and dex resulted in a better osteoblastic differentiation of first-passage cells than primary culture carried out in mineralization medium with or without dex. We showed that culture of HBMS cells under these conditions (primary culture in proliferation medium, followed by subculture in mineralization medium) led to the formation of specifically mineralized bone-like nodules similar to the ones observed with rat bone marrow stromal cells. Our nodules exhibited three distinct cell types, reproducing in vitro a tissue-like structure. This treatment demonstrated an optimal proliferation and expression of osteoblastic markers such as alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and type I collagen. The primary culture allowed the multiplication of the number of adherent progenitor cells at the initial time of plating by a mean factor of 44,000, which was found to be negatively correlated with age. Thus, this differentiation model could provide a new tool to elaborate an autologous cell therapy designed to enhance osteogenesis.