Mesenchymal stem cells from sternum: the type of heart disease, ischemic or valvular, does not influence the cell culture establishment and growth kinetics.

Background: In an attempt to increase the therapeutic potential for myocardial regeneration, there is a quest for new cell sources and types for cell therapy protocols. The pathophysiology of heart diseases may affect cellular characteristics and therapeutic results.

Methods: To study the proliferative and differentiation potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), isolated from bone marrow (BM) of sternum, we made a comparative analysis between samples of patients with ischemic (IHD) or non-ischemic valvular (VHD) heart diseases.

The gene expression profile of non-cultured, highly purified human adipose tissue pericytes: Transcriptomic evidence that pericytes are stem cells in human adipose tissue.

Pericytes (PCs) are a subset of perivascular cells that can give rise to mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) when culture-expanded, and are postulated to give rise to MSC-like cells during tissue repair in vivo. PCs have been suggested to behave as stem cells (SCs) in situ in animal models, although evidence for this role in humans is lacking. Here, we analyzed the transcriptomes of highly purified, non-cultured adipose tissue (AT)-derived PCs (ATPCs) to detect gene expression changes that occur as they acquire MSC characteristics in vitro, and evaluated the hypothesis that human ATPCs exhibit a gene expression profile compatible with an AT SC phenotype.