Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Exhibit High HLA-DR Levels and Altered Cellular Characteristics Under Xeno-Free and Serum-Free Conditions
September 2021
in “
Stem Cell Reviews and Reports
”
TLDR StemMACS media is better for growing therapeutic stem cells than PowerStem media.
The study investigated the effects of xeno- and serum-free conditions on adipose-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (ADMSCs) using two different media, PowerStem MSC1 (PS) and StemMACS MSC Expansion Media (SM). It was found that 15 out of 42 clinical-grade ADMSC samples expanded in PS showed increased expression of negative markers, which correlated with donor age and were linked to upregulation of HLA-DR. PS-cultured cells exhibited decreased growth, increased senescence, and chromosomal abnormalities at later passages compared to SM-cultured cells, which maintained a normal karyotype. Both media supported multilineage differentiation, but the findings suggested that SM media was more suitable for therapeutic ADMSC expansion. The study highlighted the importance of considering donor age and passage number in the quality control of therapeutic MSC products.