title: In vitro cell motility as a potential mesenchymal stem cell marker for multipotency.
abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are expected to have a fundamental role in future cell-based therapies because of their high proliferative ability, multilineage potential, and immunomodulatory properties. Autologous transplantations have the "elephant in the room" problem of wide donor variability, reflected by variability in MSC quality and characteristics, leading to uncertain outcomes in the use of these cells. We propose life imaging as a tool to characterize populations of human MSCs. Bone marrow MSCs from various donors and in vitro passages were evaluated for their in vitro motility, and the distances were correlated to the adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic differentiation potentials and the levels of senescence and cell size. Using life-image measuring of track lengths of 70 cells per population for a period of 24 hours, we observed that slow-moving cells had the higher proportion of senescent cells compared with fast ones. Larger cells moved less than smaller ones, and spindle-shaped cells had an average speed. Both fast cells and slow cells were characterized by a low differentiation potential, and average-moving cells were more effective in undergoing all three lineage differentiations. Furthermore, heterogeneity in single cell motility within a population correlated with the average-moving cells, and fast- and slow-moving cells tended toward homogeneity (i.e., a monotonous moving pattern). In conclusion, in vitro cell motility might be a useful tool to quickly characterize and distinguish the MSC population's differentiation potential before additional use.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Tissue and Organ Mechanobiology, Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertolo
authors.affiliation: Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Tissue and Organ Mechanobiology, Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gemperli
authors.affiliation: Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Tissue and Organ Mechanobiology, Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gruber
authors.affiliation: Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Tissue and Organ Mechanobiology, Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gantenbein
authors.affiliation: Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Tissue and Organ Mechanobiology, Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baur
authors.affiliation: Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Tissue and Organ Mechanobiology, Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pötzel
authors.affiliation: Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Tissue and Organ Mechanobiology, Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland jivko.stoyanov@paraplegie.ch.
authors.forename: Jivko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stoyanov
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016922:Cellular Senescence; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D059008:Time-Lapse Imaging
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Differentiation potential; Human mesenchymal stem cells; In vitro cell motility; Stem cell transplantation