Comparison of Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells with Fibroblasts in Cell Proliferation and Collagen Synthesis

ABSTRACT

It has been established that a graft of fibroblasts is able to improve wound healing. However, there has been no research on the effect of a graft of bone marrow stromal cells on wound healing. The wound healing process requires cell proliferation and production of extracellular matrix and various growth factors. The purpose of this study was to compare the abilities of human fibroblasts and bone marrow stromal cells, which contains mesenchymal stem cells, to proliferate and to produce collagen. Human bone marrow stromal cells and fibroblasts were isolated from bone marrow and dermis of the same patients and grown in culture respectively. Cell proliferation and production of type I collagen by human bone marrow stromal cells and dermal fibroblasts were examined by MTT method and by ELISA of cell culture media on day 1, 3, and 5 days post-incubating. The human bone marrow stromal cells showed 11-17% higher cell proliferation than fibroblasts at each time interval. The levels of type I collagen in the human bone marrow stromal cell group was also significantly higher than those in the fibroblast group. The results indicate that the grafts of human bone marrow stromal cells can show more promising effect than that of fibroblasts for healing of chronic wounds.