Assessing the potential of colony morphology for dissecting the CFU-F population from human bone marrow stromal cells

• Published in: Cell and tissue research 2013-05, Vol.352 (2), p.237-247
• Main Authors: Gothard, D, Dawson, J. I, Oreffo, R. O. C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Bone marrow; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Differentiation - physiology; cell growth; Cell Growth Processes - physiology; Cellular biology; flow cytometry; Human Genetics; Humans; isolation techniques; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells - cytology; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells - metabolism; Molecular Medicine; Morphology; prediction; progeny; Proteomics; Regular Article; Stem cells; Stem Cells - cytology; Stem Cells - metabolism; stromal cells; Tissue engineering
• ISSN: 0302-766X; 1432-0878
• DOI: 10.1007/s00441-013-1564-3

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provide an ideal cell source for bone tissue engineering strategies. However, bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) populations that contain MSCs are highly heterogeneous expressing a wide variety of proliferative and differentiation potentials. Current MSC isolation methods employing magnetic-activated and fluorescent-activated cell sorting can be expensive and time consuming and, in the absence of specific MSC markers, fail to generate homogeneous populations. We have investigated the potential of various colony morphology descriptors to provide correlations with cell growth potential. Density-independent colony forming unit-fibroblastic (CFU-F) capacity is a MSC prerequisite and resultant colonies display an array of shapes and sizes that might be representative of cell function. Parent colonies were initially categorised according to their diameter and cell density and grouped before passage for the subsequent assessment of progeny colonies. Whereas significant morphological differences between distinct parent populations indicated a correlation with immunophenotype, enhanced CFU-F capacity was not observed when individual colonies were isolated according to these morphological parameters. Colony circularity, an alternative morphological measure, displayed a strong correlation with subsequent cell growth potential. The current study indicates the potential of morphological descriptors for predicting cell growth rate and suggests new directions for research into dissection of human BMSC CFU-F populations.