title: A novel stem cell tag-less sorting method.
abstract: Growing interest in stem cell research has led to the development of a number of new methods for isolation. The lack of homogeneity in stem cell preparation blurs standardization, which however is recommended for successful applications. Among stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising candidates for cell therapy applications. This paper presents a fractionation protocol based on a tag-less, flow-assisted method of purifying, distinguishing and sorting MSCs. The protocol entails a suspension of cells in a transport fluid being injected into a ribbon-like capillary device by continuous flow. In a relatively short time (about 30 min) sorted cells are collected. The protocol has been applied to the improvement of MSC isolation, with a specific view to reducing cell manipulation operations, keeping instrumental simplicity and increasing analytical information for cell characterization. Applications such as MSC purification from epithelial contaminants, MSC characterization from various human sources and sorting of MSC subpopulations with high differentiation potential are described. The low cost, full biocompatibility and scale-up potential of the protocol presented could make the procedure attractive for stem cell selection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, I-40126, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roda
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lanzoni
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alviano
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zattoni
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Carlo
authors.forename: Cosetta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marchionni
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franchina
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: Pier Luigi
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Tazzari
authors.forename: Pasqualepaolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pagliaro
authors.forename: Sergio Zaccaria
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Scalinci
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonsi
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reschiglian
authors.forename: Gian Paolo
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Bagnara
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D017022:Flow Injection Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*