Quantification and Immunophenotypic Characterization of Bone Marrow and Umbilical Cord Blood Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Multicolor Flow Cytometry

In recent years, mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been attracting the greatest interest in the regeneration of injured tissues, autoimmune diseases, and transplantation of hematopoietic progenitor cells. Bone marrow (BM) represents the major source of MSC; however, umbilical cord blood (UCB) MSC has some advantages over BM, such as the higher differentiation capability and noninvasive collection methods. We sought to establish a 7-color, single-tube flow cytometric assay to quantify MSC in fresh tissues, namely BM and UCB, based on phenotypic markers of these cells. Moreover, we evaluated the differential expression of these markers in BM and UCB MSC. We used 5 UCB samples and 5 BM samples obtained from individuals without hematologic disease. To characterize MSC we used the following combination of monoclonal antibodies: CD71-FITC; CD105-PE; CDJ84-PE-Cy5; CD34-PE-Cy7; CD133-APC; CD45-APC-H7; CD44-Pacific blue, acquiring at least I million nucleated cells. We observed a greater number of BM MSC when compared with UCB MSC as well as some differences in the expression of some MSC antigens, particularly CD105 and CD44. Based on our preliminary results, phenotypic identification of MSC by flow cytometry is possible using a 7-color, single-tube assay. However, culture assays after sorting of cells characterized in this study are required to prove that they correspond to MSC.