Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026
Production and Administration of Therapeutic Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell (MSC) Spheroids Primed in 3-D Cultures Under Xeno-free Conditions
Published on: March 18, 2017
Growth factor-defined culture medium for human mesenchymal stem cells
Sumiyo Mimura1, Naohiro Kimura, Mitsuhi Hirata
1JCRB Cell Bank, Laboratory of Cell Cultures, Department of Disease Bioresources, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Osaka, Japan.
Abstract:
Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are potential cellular sources of therapeutic stem cells as they have the ability to proliferate and differentiate into a wide array of mesenchymal cell types such as osteoblasts, chondroblasts and adipocytes. hMSCs have been used clinically to treat patients with graft vs. host disease, osteogenesis imperfect, or alveolar cleft, suggesting that transplantation of hMSCs is comparatively safe as a stem cell-based therapy. However, conventional culture medium for hMSCs contains fetal bovine serum (FBS). In the present study, we developed a growth factor-defined, serum-free medium for culturing hMSCs. Under these conditions, TGF-beta1 promoted proliferation of hMSCs. The expanded hMSC population expressed the human pluripotency markers SSEA-3, -4, NANOG, OCT3/4 and SOX2. Furthermore, double positive cells for SSEA-3 and a mesenchymal cell marker, CD105, were detected in the population. The potential to differentiate into osteoblasts and adipocytes was confirmed. This work provides a useful tool to understand the basic biological properties of hMSCs in culture.
