title: Morphological and immunocytochemical characterization of cultured fibroblast-like cells derived from adult human synovial membrane.
abstract: The synovial membrane (SM) is a source of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which appeared microscopically to be a relatively homogeneous population of fibroblast-like cells (FCs) in culture (De Bari et al., 2001). The aim of this study was to investigate phenotypic characteristics of the SM-derived FCs (SD-FCs) that could elucidate their origin inside the synovial tissue. Morphological characterization of SD-FCs was assessed by electron microscopy and by expression of surfactant protein A (SPA). This study, yielded substantial evidence that SD-FCs show ultrastructural and immunocytochemical features of type B synoviocytes; they contained characteristic lamellar bodies (LBs) that are secreted by exocytosis. LB secretion ability was maintained upon passaging (P3-P10). Immunocytochemistry showed that SD-FCs express surfactant protein A (SP-A). Taken together, these results indicate that multipotent SD-MSCs may originate from the synovial lining, having a phenotype highly similar to that of type B synoviocytes. We believe our data highlight the potent ability of type B synoviocytes to have a multilineage differentiation potential.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Histology, Biomedical Research Institute-DWI, Limburgs Universitaire Centrum, Diepenbeek, Belgium. frank.vandenabeele@luc.ac.be
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vandenabeele
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Bari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moreels
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lambrichts
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dell'Accio
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Lippens
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Luyten
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D005089:Exocytosis; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000166:cytology; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D011554:Pseudopodia / Q000648:ultrastructure; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A