Mesenchymal Stem Cell and Monocyte Co-cultures

Transwell co-cultures are critical to study cell-to-cell communication through the release of factors between different cells allowing for the simultaneous assessment of treatment effects on one cell type (e.g., Cell A) and their impact on another cell type (e.g., Cell B). This allows for the simultaneous assessment of two different cell types and the factors they secrete under the same treatment conditions, which minimizes interexperimental variability, demonstrates causation rather than association, and enhances the translatability of the findings to the in vivo condition. Here we describe transwell co-cultures of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and peripheral blood monocytes or pre-osteoclasts to assess osteoblast-mediated actions on osteoclastogenesis.