High-throughput process for selecting multipotent cell subpopulations for regenerative medicine
A team from Stanford University School of Medicine (CA, USA) have identified a process to help identify cell populations with predispositions towards specific lineages
Accurate identification and selection of specific cell populations are necessary to use cells as therapies for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Rapid, large-scale screening to characterize different subpopulations of multipotent cells is therefore necessary to scale up the cell therapy industry.
Furthermore, the potential of human adipose-derived stromal cells (hASCs) for regenerative therapies lies in their ability to secrete a variety of growth factors and their ability to be differentiated into a variety of cell types using established lineage-specific factors — selecting a subpopulation already inclined towards the desired lineage may result in better differentiation and graft survival.
Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine (CA, USA) have created a comprehensive surface marker profile of undifferentiated hASCs using flow cytometry. By comparing the profile to that of hASCs that have undergone osteogenic or adipogenic differentiation, they indentified markers that may allow selection of distinct subpopulations with enhanced bone and fat differentiation capacity, and therefore better repair bone and fat tissue defects.
The screening methodology could be used on other cell types, such as bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. “This marriage of flow cytometry with the identification of regenerative cell subpopulations will likely prove to be very useful to a broad range of researchers in the field,” says Peter C Johnson, MD, Vice President, Research and Development and Medical Affairs, Vancive Medical Technologies and President and CEO, Scintellix, LLC (NC, USA).
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-07/mali-hat072315.php