Mesenchymal Stem Cells Support Neuronal Fiber Growth in an Organotypic Brain Slice Co-Culture Model

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been identified as promising candidates for neuroregenerative cell therapies. However, the impact of different isolation procedures on the functional and regenerative characteristics of MSC populations has not been studied thoroughly. To quantify these differences, we directly compared classically isolated bulk bone marrow-derived MSCs (bulk BM-MSCs) to the subpopulation Sca-1+Lin−CD45−-derived MSCs− (SL45-MSCs), isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting from bulk BM-cell suspensions. Both populations were analyzed with respect to functional readouts, that are, frequency of fibroblast colony forming units (CFU-f), general morphology, and expression of stem cell markers. The SL45-MSC population is characterized by greater morphological homogeneity, higher CFU-f frequency, and significantly increased nestin expression compared with bulk BM-MSCs. We further quantified the potential of both cell populations to enhance neuronal fiber growth, using an ex vivo model of or...