Featured Articles

Human Platelet Lysate Improves Bone Forming Potential of Human Progenitor Cells Expanded in Microcarrier - Based Dynamic Culture
Priyanka Gupta, et al., STEM CELLS Translational Medicine

Current research in the field of stem cell bioprocessing has highlighted the need for xeno - free media and that will enhance process efficiency while facilitating clinical translation. This work provides important data and support toward the use of platelet lysate as a viable alternative to fetal bovine serum in a scalable suspension cell culture setup. Although human platelet lysate is increasingly considered for several progenitor cell types as a suitable medium for culture, there are no studies evaluating these cells in an in vivo setting. In this study, hPDCs were seen to form significantly higher amount of bone when implanted together with CaP carriers in small animal models. This capacity was linked to activation of WNT and BMP pathways associated with the osteogenic capacity of several progenitor cells.

Molecular Genetic and Immune Functional Responses Distinguish Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Hepatic Stellate Cells
Raghavan Chinnadurai, et al., STEM CELLS

The clinical use of mesenchymal stromal cells is expanding at a brisk pace. However, ambiguity still exists on the identity and function of mesenchymal cells from differential tissue sources. This study investigates the comparative biology mesenchymal stromal cells and hepatic stellate cells from bone marrow and liver. The data demonstrated that molecular genetic and immune functional responses distinguish their immune physiology. In addition, differences in the immunosuppressive pathways of these cell types between murine and of human origin suggest that careful considerations are required for the clinical translation of animal studies of into the human immune physiology.