Fibroblasts and Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells Are Phenotypically Indistinguishable.

ABSTRACT:

Background/aims

Human mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs), derived from many different tissues, are characterized by a fibroblast-like morphology, the expression of certain cell surface markers and their ability to differentiate into adipocytes, chondrocytes and osteoblasts. A number of studies have shown that MSCs share many characteristics with fibroblasts; however, there is no well-defined set of phenotypic characteristics that could distinguish between these 2 types of cells.

Methods

We used 4 well-established human fibroblast strains from 3 different tissue sources and several human MSC strains from 2 different tissue sources to compare the phenotypic and immunological characteristics of these cells.

Results

Fibroblast strains had a similar morphology to MSCs,

SUBMITTER: Denu RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4988914 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature