Fig. 1

Characteristics and differentiation abilities of RA patient-derived SF-MSCs depend on disease duration. a A plastic-adherent population with fibroblastic morphology. b Flow cytometry indicates the positive expression of MSC-specific molecules (CD44, CD90, and CD105) and the negative expression of a hematopoietic cell surface molecule (CD45) within this SF-MSC population. c Cytochemical staining of differentiated SF-MSCs showing adipocytes (lipid droplets), osteoblasts (calcium deposits), and chondrocytes (proteoglycan synthesis) when grown in vitro and d changes in lineage-specific gene expression. The asterisks indicate significant differences. The data represent percentage mean values ± SD. 40× magnification. 0W, undifferentiated SF-MSC at the start of the culture; 4W, differentiated SF-MSCs for 4 W