Isolation, differentiation, and characterization of mesenchymal stem cells from human bone marrow

Aim: We describe the minimum requirements and a simplified method for isolation and characterization of mesenchymal stem cells [MSCs] from human bone marrow

Background: MSCs are well known adult stem cells present in many tissues such as adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteoblasts, and neurons. Many isolations and characterization methods have emerged to apply MSCs in the clinical applications, which many of them are expensive and time-consuming

Methods: MSC isolation was carried out from human bone marrow, and cultured in defined medium. Cultures were maintained at 370C in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO2 for 48h. The medium was exchanged every 3-4 days. Adherent cells were characterized according to main criteria defined by ISCT, such as differentiation capability to adipocyte and osteoblast using specific differentiation mediums; also, flow cytometry verified MSC specific markers

Results: Isolated MSCs had a fibroblastic-like appearance with adherent property to the culture plate. Differentiation function was proved with the formation of lipid drops and calcium oxalates on the differentiated MSCs and finally, purified MSCs from bone marrow were positive for cell surface markers, CD73, CD90, and CD105 while being negative for CD34 and CD45

Conclusion: These findings confirm that the represented method is capable of isolating MSCs from bone marrow with proven results according to all minimum criteria defined by the International Society for Cellular Therapy [ISCT]

Burden of gastrointestinal cancers and problem of the incomplete information; how to make up the data?

Cancer registration is an important source for measuring the burden of cancer in a population. In practice, however, quite frequently incorrect patients are registered or data items can be inaccurately recorded or not recorded at all. Also the process or quality of these registrations varies among countries. In this paper, we briefly discussed some statistical techniques including; Mortality and Incidence Analysis Model [MIAMOD], Prevalence and Incidence Analysis Model [PIAMOD], Bayesian Inference and Capture-recapture methods, which provide tools to re-correct the incomplete or misclassified cancer statistics with regards to gastrointestinal cancers