Differentiation potentials of CD271 positive cells from caprine skin tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

Background & Aim Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after development, which multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues. They can be found in adult animals and humans, unlike embryonic stem cells. MSCs characterized by a fibroblast-like morphology possess self-renewal and can be directed to differentiate into cells of mesodermal lineages under specific conditions. However, MSCs are a heterogeneous population of cells with varying magnitudes of differentiation potential among single clone of MSCs. It was documented that in vitro single cell cloning of human MSCs demonstrated that approximately 30% of the clonal cells were multipotent and thus true MSCs. CD271 (low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor) has been identified as a marker of the most homogeneous MSCs subset. Methods, Results & Conclusion Using immunomagnetic selection method, we separated CD271 positive (CD271-P) or negative cells (CD271-P) from caprine ear skin tissue-derived MSCs (capESK-MSCs). Two types of cells were examined for cellular morphology, proliferation properties, expression of cell surface markers and mesodermal differentiation capabilities at early passage. CD271-P and CD271-N cells from capESK-MSCs exhibited abilities to attach to culture plate and expand in vitro. CD271-P cells had spindle-shaped morphology, but CD271-N cells had spindle and round shape morphology. CD271-P and CD271-N cells exhibited not significant difference in cumulative population doubling level during 10 consecutive passages. In addition, CD271-P and CD271-N cells displayed similar immunophenotypic markers (CD34, CD45, CD73, CD90 and CD105). However, CD271-P and CD271-N cells exhibited difference in differentiation potentials. Two types of cells exhibited adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation potentials. Specifically, CD271-P cells have a greater capacity for chondrogenic differentiation potential compared to CD271-N cells at passage four. CD271 has been identified as a marker of the most homogeneous MSCs. It is capable of promoting differentiation along adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages and producing significantly higher levels of cytokines as compared to the total population of MSCs. In this study, we observed homogenous cell population, proliferating ability and mesodermal differentiation potentials from CD271-P cells from capESK-MSCs.