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Updated: Jan 29, 2026

In Vitro Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Functional Cardiomyocyte-like Cells
Published on: August 9, 2017
Probing primary mesenchymal stem cells differentiation status by micro-Raman spectroscopy
J J Lazarević1, T Kukolj2, D Bugarski2
1Center for Solid State Physics and New Materials, Institute of Physics Belgrade, University of Belgrade, Pregrevica 118, Belgrade 11080, Serbia.
Abstract:
We have employed micro-Raman spectroscopy to get insight into intrinsic biomolecular profile of individual mesenchymal stem cell isolated from periodontal ligament. Furthermore, these cells were stimulated towards adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic lineages and their status of differentiation was assessed using micro-Raman spectroscopy. In both cases, glass coverslips were used as substrates, due to their wide availability and cost effectiveness. In all sample groups, the same type of behavior was observed, manifested as changes in Raman spectra: the increase of relative intensity of protein/lipid bands and decrease of nucleic acid bands. Comprehensive statistical analysis in the form of principal component analysis was performed, which revealed noticeable grouping of cells with the similar features. Despite the inhomogeneity of primary stem cells and their differentiated lineages, we demonstrated that micro-Raman spectroscopy is sufficient for distinguishing cells' status, which can be valuable for medical and clinical application.
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