Umbilical cord blood(UCB)is an efficient and valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells(HSCs)for transplantation.In addition to HSCs it harbours low amounts of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs).No single marker to identif...Umbilical cord blood(UCB)is an efficient and valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells(HSCs)for transplantation.In addition to HSCs it harbours low amounts of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs).No single marker to identify cord blood-derived stem cells,or to indicate their multipotent phenotype,has been characterized so far.SSEA-3 and-4 are cell surface globoseries glycosphingolipid epitopes that are commonly used as markers for human embryonic stem cells,where SSEA-3 rapidly disappears when the cells start to differentiate.Lately SSEA-3 and-4 have also been observed in MSCs.As there is an ongoing discussion and variation of stem-cell markers between laboratories,we have now comprehensively characterized the expression of these epitopes in both the multipotent stem-cell types derived from UCB.We have performed complementary analysis using gene expression analysis,mass spectrometry and immunochemical methods,including both flow cytometry and immunofluoresence microscopy.SSEA-4,but not SSEA-3,was expressed on MSCs but absent from HSCs.Our findings indicate that SSEA-3 and/or-4 may not be optimal markers for multipotency in the case of stem cells derived from cord blood,as their expression may be altered by cell-culture conditions.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation(TEKES)the EVO Medical Research Fund of Finnish Red Cross Blood Service and The Finnish Glycoscience Graduate School.
文摘Umbilical cord blood(UCB)is an efficient and valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells(HSCs)for transplantation.In addition to HSCs it harbours low amounts of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs).No single marker to identify cord blood-derived stem cells,or to indicate their multipotent phenotype,has been characterized so far.SSEA-3 and-4 are cell surface globoseries glycosphingolipid epitopes that are commonly used as markers for human embryonic stem cells,where SSEA-3 rapidly disappears when the cells start to differentiate.Lately SSEA-3 and-4 have also been observed in MSCs.As there is an ongoing discussion and variation of stem-cell markers between laboratories,we have now comprehensively characterized the expression of these epitopes in both the multipotent stem-cell types derived from UCB.We have performed complementary analysis using gene expression analysis,mass spectrometry and immunochemical methods,including both flow cytometry and immunofluoresence microscopy.SSEA-4,but not SSEA-3,was expressed on MSCs but absent from HSCs.Our findings indicate that SSEA-3 and/or-4 may not be optimal markers for multipotency in the case of stem cells derived from cord blood,as their expression may be altered by cell-culture conditions.
