Phenotypic and functional heterogeneity of human bone marrow- and amnion-derived MSC subsets

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) are nonhematopoietic cells that are able to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes. In addition, they are known to participate in niche formation for hematopoietic stem cells and to display immunomodulatory properties. Conventionally, these cells are functionally isolated from tissue based on their capacity to adhere to the surface of culture flasks. This isolation procedure is hampered by the unpredictable influence of secreted molecules, the interactions between cocultured hematopoietic and other unrelated cells, and by the arbitrarily selected removal time of nonadherent cells before the expansion of MSCs. Finally, functionally isolated cells do not provide biological information about the starting population. To circumvent these limitations, several strategies have been developed to facilitate the prospective isolation of MSCs based on the selective expression, or absence, of surface markers. In this report, we summarize the most frequently used markers and introduce new targets for antibody-based isolation procedures of primary bone marrow- and amnion-derived MSCs.