Isolation, characterization and transduction of canine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells [cBM-MSCs]

ABSTRACT

Stem cell therapy in small animal medicine is still in its infancy and few in vitro and in vivo research projects regarding animal Mesenchymal Stem Cells [MSCs] have been carried out. On the other hand, Cell tracking is the first step of the cell-based therapies and is essential to recognize cell fate post transplantation. The aim of this study was to isolate, characterize, and transduce cBM-MSCs. Canine Bone Marrow-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells [cBMMSCs] were isolated from bone marrow of dogs and characterized based on morphology, differentiation capacities, and surface marker expressions. For the first time, we labeled cBM-MSCs by GFP-encoding lentiviral vector to track them. cBM-MSCs were successfully isolated and proliferated. Morphologically, these cells were similar to other MSCs from other sources and species and were able to differentiate into osteocytes and adipocytes. cBM-MSCs expressed surface marker CD44 but were not able to express CD34. Approximately, 70% of cells efficaciously expressed GFP after labeling; We found that GFP labeling is an easy and effective technique to track transplanted cBMMSCs. Our results also provide fundamental information about canine BM-MSCs in order to use in veterinary medicine