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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Isolation and Animal Serum Free Expansion of Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) and Endothelial Colony Forming Progenitor Cells (ECFCs)

Isolation and Animal Serum Free Expansion of Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) and Endothelial Colony Forming Progenitor Cells (ECFCs)

Published on: October 8, 2009

Colony forming unit assays for MSCs.

Radhika Pochampally¹

¹Center for Gene Therapy and Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)

|March 29, 2008

Summary

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are crucial adult stem cells. This study details two methods, colony forming units (CFUs) and single-cell colony forming units (Sc-CFUs), to assess MSC quality through colony formation assays.

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Colony Forming Unit Assays.

Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)·2016

Area of Science:

Stem Cell Biology
Hematology
Tissue Engineering

Background:

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), also known as multipotential mesenchymal stromal cells, are plastic-adherent adult stem/progenitor cells originating from bone marrow.
Historically, MSCs were termed fibroblastoid colony-forming-cells due to their adherence to plastic and colony generation capabilities.
The colony-forming efficiency of MSCs is a critical indicator of cell preparation quality.

Purpose of the Study:

To describe established methodologies for evaluating the colony-forming capacity of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).
To present two distinct assays for quantifying MSC colony formation: traditional colony forming units (CFUs) and single-cell colony forming unit (Sc-CFU) assays.

Main Methods:

Detailed description of a traditional colony forming unit (CFU) assay for MSCs.
Detailed description of a single-cell colony forming unit (Sc-CFU) assay for MSCs.
Both methods focus on assessing the ability of MSCs to form colonies when plated at low densities.

Main Results:

The study outlines two validated methods for assessing MSC colony-forming ability.
These assays provide quantitative measures of MSC quality and potency.
The efficiency of colony formation remains a key metric for MSC characterization.

Conclusions:

Accurate assessment of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) colony-forming ability is essential for quality control.
The described CFU and Sc-CFU assays provide reliable methods for evaluating MSC preparations.
These assays support the standardization and quality assurance of MSCs for research and therapeutic applications.

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Last Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Isolation and Animal Serum Free Expansion of Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) and Endothelial Colony Forming Progenitor Cells (ECFCs)

Isolation and Animal Serum Free Expansion of Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) and Endothelial Colony Forming Progenitor Cells (ECFCs)

Published on: October 8, 2009

Isolation and Enrichment of Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) and Separation of Single-colony Derived MSCs

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Published on: March 22, 2010