FETAL MESENCHYMAL STEM CELL BIO MARKING FOR TRACKING CELLS

Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into different types of cells and unique property of self renewal. Thus it is suitable for replacement therapies and regenerative medical applications. Besides hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), bone marrow (BM) possess marrow cells called as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or stromal stem cells that are present in bone marrow. MSCs are multipotent precursors present in adult BM, having the ability to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondrocytes, tenocytes and myoblasts (Pittenger et al.,1999; Bianco et al., 2001). Although MSCs represent a very small fraction of the total population of nucleated cells in the marrow (0.01% - 0.001%, Pittenger et al., 1999) they can be easily separated from the HSCs by their adherence to plastics and glasses (Colter et al., 2000).Green fluorescent protein has been used widely as a marker for tracking cells in a wide variety of cell biology studies. Since MSCs are gaining importance for their potential in clinical application the present study has been done to assess the efficiency of GFP marking in ovine fetal mesenchymal stem cells and thus evolve suitable method for tracking these cells in transplantation in pharmacologic applications.