Characterization of mesenchymal stem cells derived from rat bone marrow and adipose tissue: A comparative study

Background and Objectives: Stem cell technology offers a new hope for many chronic disorders patients. The typesof stem cells are different with many differences existing between each type. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) representone type of adult stem cells that can be easily isolated, then re-transplanted to the patients. This offers potential fortheir future application in treating many disorders without fear of rejection possibility. MSCs can be isolated fromdifferent sources e.g. bone marrow (BMSCs) and adipose tissue (ADSCs). In the present study we compared BMSCsand ADSCs isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats.Methods and Results: For this comparison, immunophenotyping, the analysis of growth rates, proliferation by colonyforming unit-fibroblast assay, population doubling time, and trilineage differentiation assays were performed for bothBMSCs and ADSCs. The findings revealed that despite no difference in immunphenotypic character between BMSCand ADSC, a better proliferative capacity was observed for ADSCs which would advocate their better use in regenerativeapplications. On the other hand, BMSCs showed more potential for osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation.Conclusions: Our study showed that, despite many similarities between both types of cells, there are differences existingwhich can offer assistance on choosing type of cell to be used in specific diseases. Although ADSCs seem more promisingfor regenerative application generally, BMSCs may represent a better choice for treating bone disorders.