Effect of culture media on expansion properties of human umbilical cord matrix-derived mesenchymal cells

Background aims. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been isolated from a number of different tissues, including umbilical cord. Because of the lack of a uniform approach to human umbilical cord matrix-derived mesenchymal (hUCM) cell expansion, we attempted to identify the optimum conditions for the production of a high quantity of hUCM cells by comparing two media. Methods. We compared the ability of Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium/F12 (DMEM/F12) and Alpha Minimum Essential Medium (alpha-MEM) with Glutamax (GL) (alpha-MEM/GL) to expand hUCM cells. For this purpose, hUCM cells were cultured in plates containing different culture media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Culture dishes were left undisturbed for 10-14 days to allow propagation of the newly formed hUCM cells. The expansion properties, CD marker expression, differentiation potential, population doubling time (PDT) and cell activity were compared between the two groups. Results. The hUCM cells harvested from each group were positive for MSC markers, including CD44, CD90 and CD105, while they were negative for the hematopoietic cell surface marker CD34. Differentiation into adipogenic and osteogenic lineages was confirmed for both treatments. Cell activity was higher in the alpha-MEM/GL group than the DMEM/F12 group. PDT was calculated to be 60 h for the DMEM/F12 group, while for the alpha-MEM/GL group it was 47 h. Conclusions. Our data reveal that alpha-MEM/GL with 10% FBS supports hUCM cell growth more strongly than DMEM/F12 with 10% FBS.