Human autologous serum obtained using a completely closed bag system as a substitute for foetal calf serum in human mesenchymal stem cell cultures

The major problem in cell therapy is the possibility of viral or bacterial infection and immune reactions. Therefore, it is expected of culture cells which are intended to be re-implanted with autologous serum rather than conventional bovine serum. Cell therapy with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC), differentiating to various cells, is thought to be curative. To culture hMSC with human autologous serum (HAS) and reimplant them for cell therapy, we developed a completely closed bag system separating serum, comparing proliferation and multipotency of hMSC cultured in HAS with those in foetal calf serum (FCS). HAS was simply, safely and efficiently obtained with the developed closed bag system. Cell proliferation of hMSC cultured in HAS was greater than that in FCS. hMSC, exposed to the defined induction medium containing HAS as well as FCS, differentiated into osteoblasts and adipocytes. These findings suggest that HAS obtained with the developed closed bag system is advantageous in a point of decrease in risk of virus or bacterial infection and foreign protein contamination and enhancement of proliferation of hMSC. (c) 2006 International Federation for Cell Biology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.