Increased Haematopoietic Supportive Function of USSC from Umbilical Cord Blood Compared to CB MSC and Possible Role of DLK-1
Figure 1
DLK-1 is a marker to distinguish USSC from CB MSC in cord blood. (a) Differentiation capacity of CB-derived stromal cells. Basal characterization of CB-derived stromal cells revealed the adipogenic differentiation as discriminating characteristic between CB MSC () and USSC (). CB MSC exhibited a high adipogenic differentiation potential, comparable to BM MSC, while USSC never formed lipid vacuoles following adipogenic induction as demonstrated by Oil Red O staining after 21 days of differentiation. (b) DLK-1 expression inversely correlated with the adipogenic differentiation potential. DLK-1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in USSC and clonal USSC lines compared to CB MSC and corresponding clonal populations. The DLK-1 expressing teratocarcinoma cell line nTERA-2 was tested as positive control, dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) served as biological negative control.
