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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Suppmental Data All Versions of this Article: 2007-0480v1 26/6/1598    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Rider, D. A. Articles by Cool, S. M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rider, D. A. Articles by Cool, S. M.

TISSUE-SPECIFIC STEM CELLS

Autocrine Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Increases the Multipotentiality of Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

^aLaboratory of Stem Cells and Tissue Repair, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore;
^bDivision of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, and
^cDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Key Words. Adult bone marrow stem cells • Mesenchymal stem cell • Microenvironment • Multipotential differentiation • Adipogenesis • Chondrogenesis • Osteoblast

Correspondence: Simon M. Cool, Ph.D., Laboratory of Stem Cells and Tissue Repair, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 61 Biopolis Drive, Singapore 138673. Telephone: 65-65869714; Fax: 65-67791117; e-mail: scool{at}imcb.a-star.edu.sg

Received June 28, 2007; accepted for publication March 4, 2008.
First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS   March 20, 2008.



Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), first identified in the bone marrow, have subsequently been found in many other tissues, including fat, cartilage, muscle, and bone. Adipose tissue has been identified as an alternative to bone marrow as a source for the isolation of MSCs, as it is neither limited in volume nor as invasive in the harvesting. This study compares the multipotentiality of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) with that of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AMSCs) from 12 age- and sex-matched donors. Phenotypically, the cells are very similar, with only three surface markers, CD106, CD146, and HLA-ABC, differentially expressed in the BMSCs. Although colony-forming units-fibroblastic numbers in BMSCs were higher than in AMSCs, the expression of multiple stem cell-related genes, like that of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), the Wnt pathway effectors FRAT1 and frizzled 1, and other self-renewal markers, was greater in AMSCs. Furthermore, AMSCs displayed enhanced osteogenic and adipogenic potential, whereas BMSCs formed chondrocytes more readily than AMSCs. However, by removing the effects of proliferation from the experiment, AMSCs no longer out-performed BMSCs in their ability to undergo osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. Inhibition of the FGF2/fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 signaling pathway demonstrated that FGF2 is required for the proliferation of both AMSCs and BMSCs, yet blocking FGF2 signaling had no direct effect on osteogenic differentiation.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.