Characteristic differences among osteogenic cell populations of rat bone marrow stromal cells isolated from untreated, hemolyzed or Ficoll-treated marrow

Background aims. Although bone marrow (BM) stromal cells (SC; BMSC) isolated from adherent cultures of untreated BM are known to contain both committed and uncommitted osteogenic cells, it remains unknown whether BMSC isolated either by hemolysis or Ficoll centrifugation also contain both of these populations. Methods. Differences in the osteogenic cell populations of rat BMSC isolated from untreated, hemolyzed or Ficoll-treated BM were analyzed by in vivo transplantation, flow cytometry, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and alizarin red staining. Results. Transplantation of non-cultured samples indicated that the Ficolled BMSC contained the lowest number of committed osteogenic cells. Flow cytometric analysis of cultured, non-induced samples showed that the percentage of ALP-positive cells was significantly lower in Ficolled BMSC. Quantitative ALP assays confirmed that the lowest ALP activity was in the Ficolled BMSC. Hemolyzed BMSC also contained lower numbers of committed osteogenic cells than untreated BMSC, but still more than Ficolled BMSC. Interestingly, the Ficolled BMSC showed the greatest levels of osteogenic ability when cultured in osteogenic induction medium. Conclusions. These findings suggest that, although Ficolled BMSC rarely contain committed osteogenic cells, they are able to show comparable or even greater levels of osteogenic ability after induction, possibly because they contain a greater proportion of uncommitted stem cells. In contrast, induction is optional but recommended for both untreated and hemolyzed BMSC before use, because both these groups contain both committed and uncommitted osteogenic cells. These findings are of significant importance when isolating BMSC for use in bone tissue engineering.