Fig. 5

Expansion, characterization and pluripotency properties of human MSCs from SCD patients. a Ex vivo expanded mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) from SCD patients with pre-collapse ONFH at a distant site in control culture conditions. Total viable cell counts of MSCs from donors with progressive disease stage are plotted for MSCs expanded in fetal bovine serum. b Morphologic characteristics of MSCs at passage 3. c–e Differentiation of MSCs. Results of staining assays on MSCs induced to osteogenic differentiation (c, mineralized bone nodules stained with Alizarin red), adipogenic differentiation (d, intracellular lipid droplets stained with Oil red O), and chondrogenic differentiation (e, static micromass cell culture stained with Alcian Blue). f Immunophenotyping profile of MSCs isolated from SCD patients. Negative peaks (green line) correspond to cell autofluorescence. MSCs were positively labeled to CD29, CD90, CD105, CD146 and negatively labeled to CD31, CD34, CD45 and CD133. Data are mean ± SD number of cells (n = 4). Data are representative of three independent experiments. Magnification: 400× in b–d. Scale bar: 50 μm in e