Development of a Cost-effective Xeno-free Conditioned Medium Containing Human Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor for the Expansion of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell

Stem cells are a group of undifferentiated cells capable of regenerating somatic cells through cell division and differentiation. Among the lineage of stem cells, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are adult stem cells that can be isolated from human tissues such as bone marrow, adipose tissues and amniotic fluids. Due to the ability of high differentiability into multiple lineages of different cell types, it is highly valuable in regenerative medicine. However, low consistent maintenance of differentiability and potency of stem cells, as well as expensive cultivation of stem cells impede the research and application of hMSCs in current medical fields. Hence, it is urging to find a more defined, low cost culture media in expansion of hMSCs without reducing its differentiability and potency. In this study, we demonstrated a well-defined xeno-free conditioned medium containing human basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) for hMSCs cultivation. Our results showed enhanced proliferation activity and successful maintenance of the elongated and spiral morphologies of hMSCs cultured in our conditioned medium supplemented with 100 ng/mL FGF2. More importantly, the undifferentiability of hMSCs was also validated by FACS, microscopy, qPCR and Western Blotting. We believe the present finetuned growth medium could be utilized for mass production of hMSCs.