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Assessing the potential of colony morphology for dissecting the CFU-F population from human bone marrow stromal cells

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Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provide an ideal cell source for bone tissue engineering strategies. However, bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) populations that contain MSCs are highly heterogeneous expressing a wide variety of proliferative and differentiation potentials. Current MSC isolation methods employing magnetic-activated and fluorescent-activated cell sorting can be expensive and time consuming and, in the absence of specific MSC markers, fail to generate homogeneous populations. We have investigated the potential of various colony morphology descriptors to provide correlations with cell growth potential. Density-independent colony forming unit-fibroblastic (CFU-F) capacity is a MSC prerequisite and resultant colonies display an array of shapes and sizes that might be representative of cell function. Parent colonies were initially categorised according to their diameter and cell density and grouped before passage for the subsequent assessment of progeny colonies. Whereas significant morphological differences between distinct parent populations indicated a correlation with immunophenotype, enhanced CFU-F capacity was not observed when individual colonies were isolated according to these morphological parameters. Colony circularity, an alternative morphological measure, displayed a strong correlation with subsequent cell growth potential. The current study indicates the potential of morphological descriptors for predicting cell growth rate and suggests new directions for research into dissection of human BMSC CFU-F populations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the orthopaedic surgeons at Southampton General Hospital for provision of human bone marrow samples and are grateful to Ms. Esther Ralph for technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bone and Joint Research Group, Human Development and Health, University of Southampton School of Medicine, Southampton, UK

    D. Gothard, J. I. Dawson & R. O. C. Oreffo

  2. Institute of Developmental Sciences, Mail Point 887, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK

    D. Gothard, J. I. Dawson & R. O. C. Oreffo

Authors
  1. D. Gothard
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  2. J. I. Dawson
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  3. R. O. C. Oreffo
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to D. Gothard or R. O. C. Oreffo.

Additional information

D. Gothard and J. I. Dawson contributed equally to this publication.

This research was funded by the BBSRC (LoLa Grant: BB/G010579/1).

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Gothard, D., Dawson, J.I. & Oreffo, R.O.C. Assessing the potential of colony morphology for dissecting the CFU-F population from human bone marrow stromal cells. Cell Tissue Res 352, 237–247 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-013-1564-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-013-1564-3

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