Figure 2

Characterization of hBM-MSCs. A. Analysis of pluripotent stem cell markers in hBM-MSCs. The levels of mRNA encoding Oct4 (OCT4 mRNA), Sox2 (SOX2 mRNA), Nanog (NANOG mRNA), and nucleostemin (GNL3 mRNA) were measured using real time RT-PCR with specific primers. The results of one experiment performed in triplicate were normalized to RPL13a mRNA levels and are presented as the expression of each gene relative to that of amniotic cells (n = 1). Statistically significant differences between amniotic cells and each MSC strain were determined using the Student’s t-test ***P < 0.001 and **P < 0.01. B. The proliferation of hBM-MSCs was estimated by determining the cumulative population doublings levels (CPD). The CPD of adherent hBM-MSCs were determined between passages 2 and 7 for five donors (strains 5-9) and are represented as box plots (n = 5). C. Osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of P5 hBM-MSCs. Left panels show oil red O staining of hBM-MSCs grown in adipogenic conditions (treated) or not (control) (scale bar: 100 µm). Right panels show alizarin red staining of P5 hBM-MSCs grown in osteoinductive conditions (treated) or not (control) (scale bar: 100 µm). Images shown are representative of three experiments with different donors.