Osteogenic potential of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells cultured in autologous serum: a preliminary study.

Purpose As part of the authors' research on potential osteogenesis by filling bone defects with human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hBM-MSCs) in patients with cleft lip and palate, they examined the cytoproliferative potential and cytobiological activity of hBM-MSCs in vitro and their osteogenic potential in vivo without performing osteoinduction. Materials and Methods The hBM-MSCs were collected from iliac cancellous bone and then used in primary culture, followed by 2 subcultures using an autologous serum (AS)-containing medium and a fetal bovine serum (FBS)-containing medium. Cytoproliferative potential and cytobiological activity as expressed by bone markers (alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin) in hBM-MSCs cultured in the AS-containing medium (AS-cultured hBM-MSCs) and the FBS-containing medium (FBS-cultured hBM-MSCs) were examined in vitro, and the osteogenic potential of AS- and FBS-cultured hBM-MSCs was examined in mice. Results On day 6 of the second subculture, the number of hBM-MSCs per milliliter of specimen from 8 pediatric patients was significantly larger ( P P in vivo study showed the formation of an osteoid-like matrix rather than definite bone tissue. Conclusions 1) FBS is appropriate for the cytoproliferation of hBM-MSCs; 2) the AS-containing medium is likely to have a good possibility of inducing the differentiation of hBM-MSCs; and 3) AS-cultured hBM-MSCs contain a group of cells that spontaneously differentiate into an osteoid-like matrix without performing osteoinduction.