Cell culture medium composition and translational adult bone marrow-derived stem cell research

For most therapeutic strategies using MSC, the preliminary amplification is carried out in media containing fetal calf serum (FCS). The theoretical health risk of using a xenogenic serum, a recent practice for which we have limited data, cannot be underestimated, while amplification using human serum (HS) remains controversial. At present, the available information on multipotentiality, self-renewal, and transplantability does not permit the selection of FCS rather than HS. Cellular modifications observed during cell passage seem to indicate a gradual impairment of cells in relation to native MSC, suggesting the making of short cell cultures without necessarily trying to reinfuse a high number of MSC in patients. With this approach, the volume of HS required would remain limited. While clinical studies have already started, many problems remain, such as evaluating the quality of the initial mesenchymal compartment and the biological properties of the cell suspension with FCS compared to those with HS, and depending on culture time.