Monitoring mitochondrial inner membrane potential for detecting early changes in viability of bacterium-infected human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Introduction One of the most challenging safety issues in the manufacture of cell based medicinal products is the control of microbial risk as cell-based products cannot undergo terminal sterilization. Accordingly, sensitive and reliable methods for detection of microbial contamination are called for. As mitochondrial function has been shown to correlate with the viability and functionality of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) we have studied the use of a mitochondrial inner membrane potential sensitive dye for detecting changes in the function of mitochondria following infection by bacteria.