Porcine adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells retain their proliferative characteristics, senescence, karyotype and plasticity after long-term cryopreservation

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 9;8(7):e67939. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067939. Print 2013.

Abstract

We and others have provided evidence that adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) can mitigate rat cardiac functional deterioration after myocardial ischemia, even though the mechanism of action or the relevance of these findings to human conditions remains elusive. In this regard, the porcine model is a key translational step, because it displays heart anatomic-physiological features that are similar to those found in the human heart. Towards this end, we wanted to establish the cultural characteristics of porcine ASCs (pASCs) with or without long-term cryostorage, considering that allogeneic transplantation may also be a future option. Compared to fresh pASCs, thawed cells displayed 90-95% viability and no changes in morphological characteristics or in the expression of surface markers (being pASCs characterized by positive markers CD29(+); CD90(+); CD44(+); CD140b(+); CD105(+); and negative markers CD31(-); CD34(-); CD45(-) and SLA-DR(-); n = 3). Mean population doubling time was also comparable (64.26±15.11 hours to thawed cells vs. 62.74±18.07 hours to fresh cells) and cumulative population doubling increased constantly until Passage 10 (P10) in the entire cell population, with a small and gradual increase in senescence (P5, 3.25%±0.26 vs. 3.47%±0.32 and P10, 9.6%±0.29 vs. 10.67%±1.25, thawed vs. fresh; SA-β-Gal staining). Chromosomal aberrations were not observed. In addition, under both conditions pASCs responded to adipogenic and osteogenic chemical cues in vitro. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the growth characteristics, senescence, and the capacity of pASCs to respond to chemical cues in vitro and have provided evidence that these properties are not influenced by cryostorage in 10% DMSO solution.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / cytology*
  • Animals
  • Antigens, Surface / metabolism
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cell Survival
  • Cellular Senescence
  • Cryopreservation*
  • Immunophenotyping
  • Karyotype
  • Male
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / physiology*
  • Swine
  • Time Factors
  • Transcriptome

Substances

  • Antigens, Surface

Grants and funding

This work was funded by grants from FAPESP (07/58942-0, 08/52436-9, 08/52335-8) and CNPq (573887/2008-0). RD was a recipient of a training fellowship from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq - (135470/2008-0). VB, RD, LCGC, and JSN were recipients of training fellowships from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo – FAPESP - (2008/52334-1, 2008/55918-4, 2009/50624-5, 2010/52516-2). RD is enrolled in the Medical Sciences Master’s program at the FMUSP. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.