In vitro induction of alkaline phosphatase levels predicts in vivo bone forming capacity of human bone marrow stromal cells



One of the applications of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) that are produced by ex vivo expansion is for use in in vivo bone tissue engineering. Cultured stromal cells are a mixture of cells at different stages of commitment and expansion capability that differ in the potential to form in vivo bone. Group of Dutch researchers  employed single colony-derived BMSC cultures to identify predictive parameters of effective in vivo bone formation of BMSC.  They selected 5 colony-forming units of fibroblasts derived from BMSC cultures from human bone marrow  that formed bone in vivo. The single colony-derived BMSC strains were tested for proliferation, osteogenic-, adipogenic- and chondrogenic differentiation capacity and the expression of a variety of associated markers. The only robust predictors of in vivo bone forming capacity were the induction of alkaline phosphatase, (ALP) mRNA levels and ALP activity during in vitro osteogenic differentiation. Their findings show that in BMSCs, the additional increase in ALP levels over basal levels during in vitro osteogenic differentiation is predictive of in vivo performance.

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