Soft substrate maintains proliferative and adipogenic differentiation potential of human mesenchymal stem cells on long-term expansion by delaying senescence.

ABSTRACT: Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), during in vitro expansion, gradually lose their distinct spindle morphology, self-renewal ability, multi-lineage differentiation potential and enter replicative senescence. This loss of cellular function is a major roadblock for clinical applications which demand cells in large numbers. Here, we demonstrate a novel role of substrate stiffness in the maintenance of hMSCs over long-term expansion. When serially passaged for 45 days from passage 3 to passage 18 on polyacrylamide gel of Young's modulus E=5 kPa, hMSCs maintained their proliferation rate and showed nine times higher population doubling in comparison to their counterparts cultured on plastic Petri-plates. They did not express markers of senescence, maintained their morphology and other mechan

SUBMITTER: Kureel SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6503999 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature