Ex vivo Expansion and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Goat Bone Marrow

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from large animals as goat which is genetically more closely related to human have rarely been gained attentions. The present study tried to isolate and characterize MSCs from goat bone marrow. Fibroblastic cells appeared in goat marrow cell culture were expanded through several subcultures. Passaged-3 cells were then differentiated among the osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic cell lineages to determine their MSC nature. Differentiations were determined by RT-PCR analysis of related gene expression. To identify the best culture conditions for propagation, passage-3 cells were plated either at varying cell densities or different fetal bovine serum (FBS) concentrations for a week, at the end of which the cultures were statistically compared with respect to the cell proliferation. In this study, we also determined goat MSC population doubling time (PDT) as the index of their in vitro expansion rate. Passage-3 fibroblastic cells tended to differentiate into skeletal cell lineages. This was evident in both specific staining as well as the specific gene expression profile. Moreover, there appeared to be more expansion when the cultures were initiated at 100 cells/cm2 in a medium supplemented with 15% FBS. A relatively short PDT (24.94±2.67 hr) was a reflection of the goat MSC rapid rate of expansion. Taken together, fibroblastic cells developed at goat marrow cell culture are able to differentiate into skeletal cell lineages. They undergo extensive proliferation when being plated at low cell density in 15% FBS concentration.