Flow cytometry analysis of adipose tissue-derived stem cells that were cultured in various media

Adipose tissue derived stem cells (ASCs) are very promising for regenerative medicine. However, before the stem cells can be used to treat patients, they need to be propagated in animal serum-free materials and should be characterized. Therefore, to know the characteristics of ASCs that were grown in various animal serum-free medium, we cultured the ASCs in various media, i. e. 5% or 10% human AB platelet rich plasma (PRP), or combination of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and human AB serum containing Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium (DMEM), and conducted flow cytometry analysis; then, we compared them with those that were grown in the fetal bovine serum (FBS)-derivate containing commercial medium (MesenCult®). Our results showed that the grown cells in the four kinds of medium had different proportions of CD34, CD73 and CD90 positive cells. Cells that were grown in 5% and 10% PRP containing media were comparable to those that were grown in MesenCult®, and could be regarded as adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs), while VEGF and human AB serum containing medium might preserve and promote the CD34 positive cells, but at the same time differentiated a proportion of AT-MSCs into chondrogenic cells. In conclusion, flow cytometric analysis showed that different media caused different proprortions of surface marker expressions in AT-MSCs.