The effect of cell density and oxygen level on culture for rodent multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs)

BIOT 95

Yonsil Park, parkx320@umn.edu1, Fernando Ulloa2, Catherine Verfaillie2, and Wei-Shou Hu, wshu@cems.umn.edu1. (1) Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, (2) Stem Cell Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Onderwijs & Navorsing 1, Herestraat 49 bus 804, Leuven, Belgium
Multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs) can be expanded in vitro without obvious senescence, and give rise to cell types of mesoderm, endoderm, and ectoderm. They are maintained at low cell densities in order to maintain pluripotency. Isolation by culturing under hypoxic condition (5% O2) has yielded MAPC expressing high levels of the embryonic stem cell specific transcription factor Oct-4, which is associated with greater potency. In this study the growth rate and pluripotency of rat (r)MAPCs, as measured by Oct-4 mRNA and protein expression level, were shown to be unaffected by different cell densities. Their differentiation towards endothelium-like and hepatocyte-like cells as indicated by mRNA levels of endothelial and hepatocyte markers was also unaffected. Changing ambient oxygen from 5% to 21% did not affect the proliferation, Oct-4 levels and differentiation ability of high Oct-4 MAPC. The results provide evidences that rMAPCs isolated under hypoxic conditions and express high levels of Oct4 can be readily cultured at high density. The findings, if extended to human MAPC, will open the possibility for easy scale up and facilitate the potential clinical application of MAPC.
 

Stem Cells: Engineering the Embryonic and Adult Stem Cell Niche
3:00 PM-5:00 PM, Monday, August 20, 2007 BCEC -- 108, Oral

Division of Biochemical Technology

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007