title: Characterization of adult stem/progenitor cell populations from bone marrow in a three-dimensional collagen gel culture system.
abstract: Stem cell transplantation therapy using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is considered a useful strategy. Although MSCs are commonly isolated by exploiting their plastic adherence, several studies have suggested that there are other populations of stem and/or osteoprogenitor cells that  are removed from primary culture during media replacement. Therefore, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) culture system in which adherent and nonadherent stem cells are selected and expanded. Here, we described the characterization of 3D culture-derived cell populations in vitro and the  capacity of these cells to differentiate into bone and/or cartilage tissue when placed inside of demineralized bone matrix (DBM) cylinders, implanted subcutaneously into the backs of rat for 2, 4, and 8 weeks. Our results demonstrates that 3D culture cells were a heterogeneous population of  uncommitted cells that express pluripotent-, hematopoietic-, mesenchymal-, and endothelial-specific markers in vitro and can undergo osteogenic differentiation in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Genetics and Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, Networking Biomedical Research Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Claros
authors.forename: Noela
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Losada
authors.forename: Encarnación
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guerado
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Becerra
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Andrades
mesh_terms: D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen