The work was supported in part by National Institute of Health (R01GM079688, R21RR024439, and R21GM075838), National Science Foundation (CBET 0941055), and the MSU Foundation.

1. Isolation of Rat MSCs
Mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from 6-8 week old Sprague-Dawley female rat as previously described 1, 2. Isolated MSCs can adhere to plastic surface and easily expand during in vitro culture.
<ol>
<li> The animal was put into an anaesthesia chamber and anaesthetized for around five minutes. During the anaesthesia, observe the rate of blinking, breathing and motor activity. Remove the animal from the chamber immediately after it stops motor activity and the blinking rate became infrequent.
</li><li> Lay the animal down on an operation station and kill the animal by cervical dislocation. Cut off the femurs and tibias from the back limbs, remove the skin and muscles.</li>
<li> Put the dissected femurs and tibias in 70% isopropanol for a few seconds and transfer to 1X D-PBS.</li>
<li> In a biosafety cabinet, the femurs and tibias were transferred to a 10cm dish containing DMEM. Each bone was then held with tweezers and the two ends were cut open with a scissor. Attach a 22G needle to a 3ml syringe and fill it with DMEM, then flush the marrow into a 50ml tube by inserting the needle to one open end of the bone. Repeat 2~3 times for each bone. When all the marrows were obtained, resuspend the cells and pass the cell suspension through a 70&mu;m cell strainer to remove the bone debris and blood aggregates.</li>
<li> Spin down cells at 200g, 4&deg;C for 5 minutes and remove the supernatant by aspiration. Resuspend cells in 25ml MSC medium (DMEM containing 10% FBS and 1% Pen-Strep). 10ml cell suspension was seeded into each 10cm culture dish for a total of two dishes. Keep the culture dishes in a 37&deg;C and 5% CO2 incubator for 1~2 weeks. Medium was changed every 2~3 days.</li>
</ol>
2. Enrichment of Rat MSCs
A number of surface proteins have been used to enrich MSCs, including CD54, CD90, CD73, CD105 and CD271 3-5. In our study, we used CD54 and CD90 as markers to enrich MSCs by magnetic cell sorting.
<ol>
<li> When cells reached around 80% confluency, aspirate the medium and add 4~5ml trypsin-EDTA to each dish. Put the dishes back to the incubator and incubate for around 5 minutes to allow cell detachment. Once cells were detached, add equal amount of culture medium to inactivate trypsin. Collect cell suspension into a 15ml tube and spin cells down at 200g, 4&deg;C for 5 minutes.</li>
<li> The next steps describe how to enrich MSCs by two surface markers CD54 and CD90 according to the manual for cell separation using BD IMagnet. Cell pellet was resuspended in cell staining buffer (3% heat inactivated FBS in 1X D-PBS) at 20 million cells/ml. Biotinylated CD54 antibody (0.25&mu;g per million cells) and biotinylated CD90 antibody (0.15&mu;g per million cells) was added and mixed gently with the cell suspension. After incubation on ice for 15 minutes, labeled cells were washed with an excess volume of 1X BD IMag buffer. The labeled cells were spun down at 200g, 4&deg;C for 5 minutes.</li>
<li>Vortex the BD IMag streptavidin particles thoroughly, add 40&mu;l particles for every 10 million cells. Mix the particle with the labeled cells thoroughly and incubate the cells at 6~12&deg;C for 30 minutes. This allows the streptavidin particles to bind to the biotinylated anti-CD54 and anti-CD90, which is bound to the surface proteins CD54 and CD90 respectively.</li>
<li> During the incubation time, label a round-bottom test tube to collect the positive fraction. After incubation, bring the labeling volume to 20 million cells/ml with 1X BD IMag buffer and transfer the labeled cells to the positive-fraction collection tube. Place the positive-fraction tube onto the BD IMagnet and let it stay for 6 minutes, then remove the supernatant with a glass Pasteur pipette with the positive-fraction tube still on the BD IMagnet.</li>
<li> Remove the positive-fraction tube from the BD IMagnet and place it on ice. Add 1ml ice cold 1X BD IMag buffer and resuspend cells by gentle mixing. Place the tube back onto the BD IMagnet and let it stay for 2~4 minutes. Remove the supernatant with a new glass Pasteur pipette. Repeat the washing as described in 2.5 one more time.</li>
<li> Remove the tube from the BD IMagnet and resuspend cells in culture medium, seed one 75cm2 flask for maintaining the cells and a 10cm dish for flow cytometry.</li>
</ol>
3. Verification of Surface Marker Expression by Flow Cytometry
Flow cytometry analysis was performed to verify the cells we obtained express CD54 and CD90. The HSC marker CD45 was used to confirm that the MSCs were depleted of HSCs.
<ol>
<li> When cells become ~80% confluent, trypsinize cells with trypsin-EDTA and collect cells into a 15ml tube. Centrifuge at 200g, 4&deg;C for 5 minutes to collect cells.</li>
<li> Aspirate the supernatant and wash cells with 1X D-PBS once. Resuspend cells in cell staining buffer (1X D-PBS containing 2% FBS and 0.05% sodium azide) to a final concentration of 5~10 million cells/ml and keep cells on ice. Aliquot 100&mu;l cell suspension into the six labeled tubes (1. cells only; 2. isotype control IgG2a; 3. Isotype control IgG1; 4. CD45; 5. CD54; 6. CD90).</li>
<li> Add isotype controls and primary antibodies at appropriate concentrations (IgG2a and IgG1: 20&mu;l per million cells; CD45: 0.5&mu;g per million cells; CD54: 0.25&mu;g per million cells; CD90: 0.15&mu;g per million cells) and incubate at 4&deg;C for 30 minutes.</li>
<li> Wash cells with 1X D-PBS twice and then resuspend cells in 100&mu;l cell staining buffer. Add SA-PE (streptavidin- phycoerythrin, use 0.15&mu;g per million cells) and incubate at 4&deg;C for 30 minutes in dark.</li>
<li> Wash labeled cells with 1X D-PBS twice. Resuspend cells in 400&mu;l cell staining buffer and transfer to a falcon tube for flow cytometry analysis.</li>
</ol>
4. Separation of Single-colony Derived MSCs
MSCs is a heterogeneous population composed of different subpopulations with different cell shape, growth rate as well as differentiation ability 6. However, all the subpopulations express the known MSC markers and therefore it is not feasible to use markers to separate out these subpopulations. Therefore, we applied cloning cylinders to separate out the different subpopulations, which are colonies formed by single cells.
<ol>
<li> Plate cells at about 50~100 cells per 10cm dish. Incubate in a 37&deg;C and 5% CO2 incubator for 1~2 weeks. During this period, examine well isolated colonies with an inverted microscope. Once the colonies have reached big enough size (better more than 100 cells in each colony), mark the colonies with a sharpie at the bottom of the dish. When pick the colony to be marked, make sure there are no surrounding colonies near the picked one.</li><li> Aspirate medium and wash the dish once with 1X D-PBS. Pick up a sterile cloning cylinder with a sterile forceps and gently place it around the marked colony. Repeat this until all the marked colonies has a cloning cylinder placed over. The picked colonies should be far away from each other such that every cloning cylinder only contains one colony.
</li><li> Add 100&mu;l trypsin-EDTA to each cloning cylinder and put the dish back to the incubator for ~5 minutes. After 5 minutes, check the cells under the microscope to see whether they are rounding up. When the cells have lifted up, add equal amount of culture medium to inactivate trypsin. Mix the cell suspension with a 200&mu;l micropipettor and transfer the cell suspension to a 60mm dish containing 3ml prewarmed culture medium. Label the dishes properly and put them back into the incubator. Tracking morphological change over the next few days.</li>
</ol>
5. Representative Results
According to the protocol described in the part for rat MSCs isolation, plastic adherent MSCs should be visible the next day after plating. As cells continue to proliferate, the confluent cells should look like the cells shown in Figure 1A. When cells reach ~80% confluency (Figure 1B), subculturing can be carried out. During subculture, trypsin-EDTA was used to detach cells and lifted cells are small and round as shown in Figure 1C.
<img src="/files/ftp_upload/1852/1852fig1.jpg" alt="Figure 1" /> Figure 1. Phase contrast images of rat MSCs. (A) Confluent MSCs. The majority of cells are spindle-like or star-like. (B) MSCs around 80% confluency. (C) Lifted cells after trypsinization are small and round.
Once MSCs are enriched by magnetic cell sorting, flow cytometry analysis is performed to verify the surface marker expressions. If the enrichment is good, the cells should show positive staining against MSC markers CD54 and CD90 but negative against the HSC marker CD45 (Figure 2). Isotype controls IgG2a and IgG1 are used as negative controls.
<img src="/files/ftp_upload/1852/1852fig2.jpg" alt="Figure 2" /> Figure 2. Flow cytometry analysis of MSCs for surface markers. MSCs were labeled with antibodies against IgG2a (isotype control 1), IgG1 (isotype control 2), CD45, CD54 and CD90.&nbsp; MSCs expressed CD54 and CD90 but not CD45.
When cells are seeded at proper clonal density, colonies should rise from single cells. Figure 3A represents a colony formed by a single cell. Cloning cylinders can then be used to separate the colonies and cells derived from the colonies can be cultured separately. Figure 3B and 3C represents cells derived from two individual colonies. The cells derived from colony 1 are spindle like (Figure 3B) whereas the cells derived from colony 2 are round (Figure 3C).
<img src="/files/ftp_upload/1852/1852fig3.jpg" alt="Figure 3" /> Figure 3. Colony formation by MSCs and single-colony derived cells. MSCs cultured at clonal density form individual colonies. These colonies can be separated by cloning cylinders and cells from different colonies can be cultured separately. (A) A representative colony formed by MSCs when plated at clonal density. (B) Spindle-like cells derived from one colony. (C) Round cells derived from another colony.

<ol>
	<li>de Hemptinne, I., Vermeiren, C., Maloteaux, J. M., Hermans, E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Induction+of+glial+glutamate+transporters+in+adult+mesenchymal+stem+cells.">Induction of glial glutamate transporters in adult mesenchymal stem cells.</a> J Neurochem. 91, 155-166 (2004).</li><li>Porter, R. M., Huckle, W. R., Goldstein, A. S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Effect+of+dexamethasone+withdrawal+on+osteoblastic+differentiation+of+bone+marrow+stromal+cells.">Effect of dexamethasone withdrawal on osteoblastic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells.</a> J Cell Biochem. 90, 13-22 (2003).</li><li>Chamberlain, G., Fox, J., Ashton, B., Middleton, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Concise+review:+mesenchymal+stem+cells:+their+phenotype,+differentiation+capacity,+immunological+features,+and+potential+for+homing.">Concise review: mesenchymal stem cells: their phenotype, differentiation capacity, immunological features, and potential for homing.</a> Stem Cells. 25, 2739-2749 (2007).</li><li>Abdallah, B. M., Kassem, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Human+mesenchymal+stem+cells:+from+basic+biology+to+clinical+applications.">Human mesenchymal stem cells: from basic biology to clinical applications.</a> Gene Ther. 15, 109-116 (2008).</li><li>Erica, L., Herzog, L. C., Diane, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Krause+Plasticity+of+marrow-derived+stem+cells.">Krause Plasticity of marrow-derived stem cells.</a> Blood. 102, 3483-3493 (2003).</li><li>Colter, D. C., Sekiya, I., Prockop, D. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Identification+of+a+subpopulation+of+rapidly+self-renewing+and+multipotential+adult+stem+cells+in+colonies+of+human+marrow+stromal+cells.">Identification of a subpopulation of rapidly self-renewing and multipotential adult stem cells in colonies of human marrow stromal cells.</a> Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 98, 7841-7845 (2001).</li></ol>

This protocol describes how to isolate and enrich MSCs. A method to separate the single-colony derived cells is also incorporated. There are several steps that are important for a successful isolation, enrichment and colony separation. While doing cell isolation from rat, it is recommended to filter through a cell strainer or a sterile nylon mesh of similar size to get rid of the blood clots and bone debris. After plating the cells overnight, many dead cells will be floating in the medium and the dead cells are removed b...

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">	
		
		<div>
		<table border="1">
		<thead>
		<tr>
		<th>Material Name</th>
		<th>Type</th>
		<th>Company</th>
		<th>Catalogue Number</th>
		<th>Comment</th>
		</tr>
		</thead>
		<tbody>
		
<tr>
<td>1X D-PBS</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>14040-133</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>DMEM</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>11885-084</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Cell strainer</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>BD Bioscience</td>
<td>352350</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>FBS</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>26140-079</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Pen-Strep</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>15140</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Trypsin-EDTA</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>25200-056</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>BD Imagnet</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>BD Bioscience</td>
<td>552311</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Biotin mouse IgG2a</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>BD Bioscience</td>
<td>555572</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Biotin mouse IgG1</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>BD Bioscience</td>
<td>555747</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Biotin anti-rat CD54</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Cedarlane Labs</td>
<td>CL054B</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Biotin anti-rat CD90</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Cedarlane Labs</td>
<td>CL005B</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Biotin anti-rat CD45</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Cedarlane Labs</td>
<td>CL001B</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>BD Imag buffer</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>BD Bioscience</td>
<td>552362</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Round-bottom tube</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>BD Bioscience</td>
<td>352063</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Streptavidin particles</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>BD Bioscience</td>
<td>557812</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>SA-PE</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>R&amp;D systems</td>
<td>F0040</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Cloning cylinder</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Sigma</td>
<td>C2059</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>		</tbody>
		</table>
		</div>

isolation and enrichment of rat mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) and separation of single-colony derived mscs

MSCs are a population of adult stem cells that is a promising source for therapeutic applications. These cells can be isolated from the bone marrow and can be easily separated from the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) due to their plastic adherence. This protocol describes how to isolate MSCs from rat femurs and tibias. The isolated cells were further enriched against two MSCs surface markers CD54 and CD90 by magnetic cell sorting. Expression of surface markers CD54 and CD90 were then confirmed by flow cytometry analysis. HSC marker CD45 was also included to check if the sorted MSCs were depleted of HSCs. MSCs are naturally quite heterogeneous. There are subpopulations of cells that have different shapes, proliferation and differentiation abilities. These subpopulations all express the known MSCs markers and no unique marker has yet been identified for the different subpopulations. Therefore, an alternative approach to separate out the different subpopulations is using cloning cylinders to separate out single-colony derived cells. The cells derived from the single-colonies can then be cultured and evaluated separately.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Isolation and Enrichment of Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells MSCs and Separation of Single-colony Derived MSCs at JoVE.com

Isolation and Enrichment of Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells MSCs and Separation of Single-colony Derived MSCs

Rat MSCs were isolated from femurs and tibias and then enriched by magnetic cell sorting. Sorted cells were confirmed for the expression of surface markers by flow cytometry. These cells were also cultured at clonal density to form single colonies and then these colonies were separated by cloning cylinders.

Isolation and Enrichment of Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) and Separation of Single-colony Derived MSCs

MSCs are a population of adult stem cells that is a promising source for therapeutic applications. These cells can be isolated from the bone marrow and ...

isolation-enrichment-rat-mesenchymal-stem-cells-mscs-separation

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

28.3K Views.  City of Hope Cancer Center. Rat MSCs were isolated from femurs and tibias and then enriched by magnetic cell sorting. Sorted cells were confirmed for the expression of surface markers by flow cytometry. These cells were also cultured at clonal density to form single colonies and then these colonies were separated by cloning cylinders.

Video: Isolation and Enrichment of Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells MSCs and Separation of Single-colony Derived MSCs

Isolation and Transplantation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs)

Isolation and Transplantation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells HSCs

I am Christina Ceso. I am a postdoc in David's Den lab and I work on the hematopoietic stem cells. Today we are going to purify long-term recuperating hematopoietic stem cells and we'll transplant them into a mouse.We start by spraying the mice with alcohol so that first of all, the mind starts sterilized and also the hair doesn't interfere with the dissection. We use PBS with 2%serum for the dissection. I cut the back skin and I pull the skin apart in order to expose the tissue.In order to isolate the tibia, I hold the tibia with tweezers. I cut the tendon on top of the knee and I cut the muscles below the knee and after that I cut through the knee so that the TBI is not connected to the rest of the limb anymore and I pull in order to isolate it. I then hold the TB upside down and with the scissors I separate the foot from the tibia In order to obtain the femur.I cut the muscles around the femur and then I dislocate the femur from the hip. In order to isolate the hip, I cut the muscle around the hip bone on the side of the tail of the mouse and then I pull the hip away from the body of the mouth In order to isolate the spine. I cut through the tail as close as I can to the beginning of the back and then I cut on the two sides of the spine and below the spine, trying to stay as close as possible to the spine so that the peritoneum is not cut and the intestine is left untouched.A first round of cleaning of the bones is done with a scalpel, which is used to scrape the bone, the muscles away from the bone. The scalpel is good to clean the femurs, the hip and the spine. In order to clean the tibia, I hold them with forceps and I use the forceps to remove as much tissue as possible.A second round of cleaning is done using clean wipe to completely clean the bones outta the muscle, and I use the F wipe to clean the tibia, the femurs and the hips. So this is how bones look. After cleaning, I prefer 50 amount tubes with filters on top and I transfer the bones into the mortar.I add the section media and I crush the bones ask of the first round of crashing of the bones. I piped the mixture in order to release as many styles as possible into solution and reduce clumps. I transferred the mixture on the tubes through the filters and this is what the bone fragments look like after the first round of crushing.So I add more dissection medium to the bone fragments and I flash them again. I transferred the seline mixture to the tubes through the filters and at this point the remaining bone fragments are white and there is no bone marrow left. The tubes are filled with PBS 2%serum and in order to have them all with the same weight so that they're balanced in the centrifuge, but also in order to wash the filters so that we obtain as many cells as possible, I then centrifuge the cell mixture and after centrifugation, the palt includes the bone marrow cells.I aspirate the medium and I move back and forward the tube on the rack so that the pelle is becomes loose and fewer clamps are formed. When I add medium, at this point I add one ml of medium per tube and I ics since I'm sorting hematopoietic stem cells. Later on, I'm going to store an ALI output of total bone marrow sizes at this point, which I will use later for the fact single color control.I add lineage antibody cocktail. I ordered the samples to mix them well and I invaded four degrees for 15 minutes. In the meantime, I start preparing the columns for the lineage division.I put the columns on the magnet and I prepare Ian tubes under the columns. I also prepared the gas PBS using aster flip filter and attaching it to the vacuum so that all the bubbles of air move in the top part of the filter. I then add three ml of the gas DBS to each column in order for the column to become wet.After the incubation with the antibodies, I add medium to the cell samples and I centrifuge them in order to remove the excess of antibodies. After the centrifugation, the stain cells are in the pallet. I aspirate the medium and I suspend the pallet in one mile of the gas PBSI Add the strip tab beans, I mix the cells and I incubate for 15 minutes at four degrees.After the incubation, I put new elucian tubes under the columns. I add two ml of PBS to each tube with the cells and I transferred the cell mixture to the column through a 40 micron filter. I wash the tubes with more medium in order to collect all the cells remaining and I apply the remaining medium through the filters to the columns.The progenitor cells lineage low are alluded into the collection views. I pulled the luted samples and I sent tofu them. So after the centrifugation, the depleted cells are in a white pate.I aspirate the medium and re suspend the cells. I store an adequate of the depleted cells and I add the antibodies to the cell mixture for the sorting and also to all the single color controls. The antibodies are incubated in that with the size for 15 minutes in the fridge.After the ation, I add medium to the cells and and centrifuge them to remove the ex excess of antibodies. After the centrifugation, the cells are in the pt, I aspirate the media that I suspend the cells and I transfer the cells into fox tubes with a blue filter. At this point, the cells are ready to be sorted.I place, I place the mouse under a heating lamp for a few minutes so that the veins dilate and they are more easily seen. When preparing the syringe, you have to be careful to eliminate all the bubbles from the, the mixture that is in the syringe and then you bend the needle at 90 degrees. I put the mouse under a glass cup with a weight on top so that it can run away.I sterilize the tail with the alcohol pad so that the site of injection is sterile, but also it's easier to identify the vein. If you look at the tail of the mouse from the top in the middle and top of the tail, there is an artery while on the two sides there are the two veins and we inject the cells in one of the two veins. I insert the needle into the vein and I inject following injection.It is to wait for a couple of seconds before removing the needle, the needle, and after that I clean the side of injection. This is a representation of the syringe with the ben needle bent at 90 degrees with the knee, the at this ankle compared to the tail, which makes the injection the easiest. When you injecting the tail of the mouse, you have to keep in mind that the tail vein is extremely superficial, so really this is the orientation of the needle compared to the tail.And it looks like you will just keep sliding on top of the tail, but actually you will get into the tail then. I am Christina Ceso. I am a post in David Kaden lab, and I work on the hematopoietic stem cells.I usually use for animals to start with, and I had more variability at the beginning, but once you become consistent with your methods, I consistently get about 50, 000 to 60, 000 stem cells out for mice. I did my PhD in London with Dr.Fiona Wat working on derma stem cells. After that, I just wanted to have a wider knowledge of adult stem cells in various tissues, and so I decided to move to David Kaden lab to work on hematopoietic stem cells, mainly because the things that are known about hematopoietic stem cells are the things that are not known for the epidermic stem cells and a number of assays that can be done with epi.Epidermal stem cells are not really done yet with the hematopoietic stem cells, and so at this point I'm trying to put together the, the knowledge from the two different fields and ultimately I'm interested in the study of the mechanism to regulate adult tissue sensors in general, so not just the epidermis or the stem cells, but also different tissues because there are, there are similar mechanism that is, it's always the same genes that are involved in the regulation that just interact with each other in different ways, and it's just interesting to understand what makes each stem cell be a stem, but then ultimately a stem cell in a different tissue. So giving rise to a different protein.

Isolation and Animal Serum Free Expansion of Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) and Endothelial Colony Forming Progenitor Cells (ECFCs)

The umbilical cord is a rich source for progenitor cells with high proliferative potential including mesenchymal stromal cells (also termed mesenchymal stem cells, MSCs) and endothelial colony forming progenitor cells (ECFCs). Both cell types are key players in maintaining the integrity of tissue and are probably also involved in regenerative processes and tumor formation.
To study their biology and function in a comparative manner it is important to have both cells types available from the same donor. It may also be beneficial for regenerative purposes to derive MSCs and ECFCs from the same tissue.
Because cellular therapeutics should eventually find their way from bench to bedside we established a new method to isolate and further expand progenitor cells without the use of animal protein. Pooled human platelet lysate (pHPL) replaced fetal bovine serum in all steps of our protocol to completely avoid contact of the cells to xenogeneic proteins.
This video demonstrates a methodology for the isolation and expansion of progenitor cells from one umbilical cord.
All materials and procedures will be described.

Isolation and Animal Serum Free Expansion of Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells MSCs and Endothelial Colony Forming Progenitor Cells ECFCs

This protocol describes the isolation and subsequent expansion of mesenchymal stromal cells and endothelial colony forming cells without the use of animal serum to generate autologous pairs for experimental transplantation purposes.

The umbilical cord is a rich source for progenitor cells with high proliferative potential including mesenchymal stromal cells (also termed mesenchymal ...

Isolation and Derivation of Mouse Embryonic Germinal Cells

The ability of embryonic germinal cells (EG) to differentiate into primordial germinal cells (PGCs) and later into gametes during early developmental stages is a perfect model to address our hypothesis about cancer and infertility. This protocol shows how to isolate primordial germinal cells from developing gonads in 10.5-11.5 days post coitum (dpc) mouse embryos.  Developing gonadal ridges from mouse embryos (C57BL6J) were dissociated by mechanical disruption with collagenase, then plated in a mouse embryo fibroblast feeder layer (MEF-CF1) that was previously mitotically inactivated with mitomycin C in the presence of knockout media and supplemented with Leukemia Inhibitor Factor (LIF), basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (bFGF), and Stem Cell Factor (SCF).  Using these optimized methods for PCG identification, isolation, and establishment of culture conditions permits long term cultures of EG cells for more than 40 days.  The embryonic germinal cell lines showed embryonic phenotype and expression of common used markers of the pluripotent state.  Isolation and derivation of germinal cells in culture provide a tool to understand their development in vitro and offer the opportunity to monitor cumulative damage at genetic and epigenetic levels after exposure to oxidative stress.

The ability of embryonic germinal cells to differentiate into primordial germinal cells during early development stages is a perfect model to address our hypothesis about cancer and infertility. This protocol shows how to isolate primordial germinal cells from developing gonads in 10.5-11.5 days post coitum mouse embryos.

The ability of embryonic germinal cells (EG) to differentiate into primordial germinal cells (PGCs) and later into gametes during early developmental ...

Isolation &#38; Characterization of Hoechstlow CD45negative Mouse Lung Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Tissue resident mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are important regulators of tissue repair or regeneration, fibrosis, inflammation, angiogenesis and tumor formation. Taken together these studies suggest that resident lung MSC play a role during pulmonary tissue homeostasis, injury and repair during diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis (PF) and arterial hypertension (PAH). Here we describe a technology to define a population of resident lung MSC. The definition of this population in vivo pulmonary tissue using a define set of markers facilitates the repeated isolation of a well-characterized stem cell population by flow cytometry and the study of a specific cell type and function.

Isolation & Characterization of Hoechstlow CD45negative Mouse Lung Mesenchymal Stem Cells

In this article we demonstrate the isolation of murine resident lung mesenchymal stem cells (lung MSC), their expansion, characterization and analysis of immunomodulatory properties.

Tissue resident mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are important regulators of tissue repair or regeneration, fibrosis, inflammation, angiogenesis and tumor ...

Isolation and Primary Culture of Rat Hepatic Cells

Primary hepatocyte culture is a valuable tool that has been extensively used in basic research of liver function, disease, pathophysiology, pharmacology and other related subjects. The method based on two-step collagenase perfusion for isolation of intact hepatocytes was first introduced by Berry and Friend in 1969 1 and, since then, has undergone many modifications. The most commonly used technique was described by Seglenin 1976 2. Essentially, hepatocytes are dissociated from anesthetized adult rats by a non-recirculating collagenase perfusion through the portal vein. The isolated cells are then filtered through a 100 &mu;m pore size mesh nylon filter, and cultured onto plates. After 4-hour culture, the medium is replaced with serum-containing or serum-free medium, e.g. HepatoZYME-SFM, for additional time to culture. These procedures require surgical and sterile culture steps that can be better demonstrated by video than by text. Here, we document the detailed steps for these procedures by both video and written protocol, which allow consistently in the generation of viable hepatocytes in large numbers.

Primary hepatocytes provide a valuable tool to evaluate biochemical, molecular, and metabolic functions in a physiologically relevant experimental system. We describe a reliable protocol for rat in situ liver perfusion, which consistently generates viable hepatocytes up to 1.0 &times; 108 cells per preparation with cell viability between 88 ~ 96%.

Primary hepatocyte culture is a valuable tool that has been extensively used in basic research of liver function, disease, pathophysiology, pharmacology ...

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for proper morphogenesis during development. Misregulation of this process has been implicated as a key event in fibrosis and the progression of carcinomas to a metastatic state. Understanding the processes that underlie EMT is imperative for the early diagnosis and clinical control of these disease states. Reliable induction of EMT in vitro is a useful tool for drug discovery as well as to identify common gene expression signatures for diagnostic purposes. Here we demonstrate a straightforward method for the induction of EMT in a variety of cell types. Methods for the analysis of cells pre- and post-EMT induction by immunocytochemistry are also included. Additionally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of this method through antibody-based array analysis and migration/invasion assays.

A straightforward method is described for the induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in a variety of cell types. Methods for the analysis of cells in EMT states by immunocytochemistry are included.

Epithelial  to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for proper morphogenesis during  development. Misregulation of this  process has been implicated ...

Manual Isolation of Adipose-derived Stem Cells from Human Lipoaspirates

In 2001, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, described the isolation of a new population of adult stem cells from liposuctioned adipose tissue that they initially termed Processed Lipoaspirate Cells or PLA cells. Since then, these stem cells have been renamed as Adipose-derived Stem Cells or ASCs and have gone on to become one of the most popular adult stem cells populations in the fields of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Thousands of articles now describe the use of ASCs in a variety of regenerative animal models, including bone regeneration, peripheral nerve repair and cardiovascular engineering. Recent articles have begun to describe the myriad of uses for ASCs in the clinic. The protocol shown in this article outlines the basic procedure for manually and enzymatically isolating ASCs from large amounts of lipoaspirates obtained from cosmetic procedures. This protocol can easily be scaled up or down to accommodate the volume of lipoaspirate and can be adapted to isolate ASCs from fat tissue obtained through abdominoplasties and other similar procedures.

In 2001, researchers at UCLA described the isolation of a population of adult stem cells, termed Adipose-derived Stem Cells or ASCs, from adipose tissue. This article outlines the isolation of ASCs from lipoaspirates using a manual, enzymatic digestion protocol using collagenase.

In 2001, researchers at the University of  California, Los Angeles, described the isolation of a new population of adult  stem cells from liposuctioned ...

Isolation, Culture, and Transplantation of Muscle Satellite Cells

Muscle satellite cells are a stem cell population required for postnatal skeletal muscle development and regeneration, accounting for 2-5% of sublaminal nuclei in muscle fibers. In adult muscle, satellite cells are normally mitotically quiescent. Following injury, however, satellite cells initiate cellular proliferation to produce myoblasts, their progenies, to mediate the regeneration of muscle. Transplantation of satellite cell-derived myoblasts has been widely studied as a possible therapy for several regenerative diseases including muscular dystrophy, heart failure, and urological dysfunction. Myoblast transplantation into dystrophic skeletal muscle, infarcted heart, and dysfunctioning urinary ducts has shown that engrafted myoblasts can differentiate into muscle fibers in the host tissues and display partial functional improvement in these diseases. Therefore, the development of efficient purification methods of quiescent satellite cells from skeletal muscle, as well as the establishment of satellite cell-derived myoblast cultures and transplantation methods for myoblasts, are essential for understanding the molecular mechanisms behind satellite cell self-renewal, activation, and differentiation. Additionally, the development of cell-based therapies for muscular dystrophy and other regenerative diseases are also dependent upon these factors.

However, current prospective purification methods of quiescent satellite cells require the use of expensive fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) machines. Here, we present a new method for the rapid, economical, and reliable purification of quiescent satellite cells from adult mouse skeletal muscle by enzymatic dissociation followed by magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). Following isolation of pure quiescent satellite cells, these cells can be cultured to obtain large numbers of myoblasts after several passages. These freshly isolated quiescent satellite cells or ex vivo expanded myoblasts can be transplanted into cardiotoxin (CTX)-induced regenerating mouse skeletal muscle to examine the contribution of donor-derived cells to regenerating muscle fibers, as well as to satellite cell compartments for the examination of self-renewal activities.

The isolation and culture of a pure population of quiescent satellite cells, a muscle stem cell population, is essential to the understanding of muscle stem cell biology and regeneration, as well as stem cell transplantation for therapies in muscular dystrophy and other degenerative diseases.&#160;

Muscle satellite cells are a stem cell population required for postnatal skeletal muscle development and regeneration, accounting for 2-5% of sublaminal ...

Isolation and Culture of Dental Epithelial Stem Cells from the Adult Mouse Incisor

Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie tooth regeneration and renewal has become a topic of great interest1-4, and the mouse incisor provides a model for these processes. This remarkable organ grows continuously throughout the animal&#39;s life and generates all the necessary cell types from active pools of adult stem cells housed in the labial (toward the lip) and lingual (toward the tongue) cervical loop (CL) regions. Only the dental stem cells from the labial CL give rise to ameloblasts that generate enamel, the outer covering of teeth, on the labial surface. This asymmetric enamel formation allows abrasion at the incisor tip, and progenitors and stem cells in the proximal incisor ensure that the dental tissues are constantly replenished. The ability to isolate and grow these progenitor or stem cells in vitro allows their expansion and opens doors to numerous experiments not achievable in vivo, such as high throughput testing of potential stem cell regulatory factors. Here, we describe and demonstrate a reliable and consistent method to culture cells from the labial CL of the mouse incisor.

The continuously growing mouse incisor provides a model for studying renewal of dental tissues from dental epithelial stem cells (DESCs). A robust system for consistently and reliably obtaining these cells from the incisor and expanding them in vitro is reported here.

Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie tooth regeneration and renewal has become a topic of great interest1-4, and the mouse ...

Isolation of CD146+ Resident Lung Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Rat Lungs

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are increasingly recognized for their therapeutic potential in a wide range of diseases, including lung diseases. Besides the use of bone marrow and umbilical cord MSCs for exogenous cell therapy, there is also increasing interest in the repair and regenerative potential of resident tissue MSCs. Moreover, they likely have a role in normal organ development, and have been attributed roles in disease, particularly those with a fibrotic nature. The main hurdle for the study of these resident tissue MSCs is the lack of a clear marker for the isolation and identification of these cells. The isolation technique described here applies multiple characteristics of lung resident MSCs (L-MSCs). Upon sacrifice of the rats, lungs are removed and rinsed multiple times to remove blood. Following mechanical dissociation by scalpel, the lungs are digested for 2-3 hr using a mix of collagenase type I, neutral protease and DNase type I. The obtained single cell suspension is subsequently washed and layered over density gradient medium (density 1.073 g/ml). After centrifugation, cells from the interphase are washed and plated in culture-treated flasks. Cells are cultured for 4-7 days in physiological 5% O2, 5% CO2 conditions. To deplete fibroblasts (CD146-) and to ensure a population of only L-MSCs (CD146+), positive selection for CD146+ cells is performed through magnetic bead selection. In summary, this procedure reliably produces a population of primary L-MSCs for further in vitro study and manipulation. Because of the nature of the protocol, it can easily be translated to other experimental animal models.

Isolation of CD146+ Resident Lung Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Rat Lungs

This protocol describes an isolation technique for obtaining primary lung resident mesenchymal stromal cells from rats, through the use of enzymatic digestion, density gradient separation, plastic adherence and CD146+ magnetic bead selection.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are increasingly recognized for their therapeutic potential in a wide range of diseases, including lung diseases. Besides ...