Isolation of blood-vessel-derived multipotent precursors from human skeletal muscle.

Since the discovery of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), the native identity and localization of MSCs have been obscured by their retrospective isolation in culture. Recently, using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), we and other researchers prospectively identified and purified three subpopulations of multipotent precursor cells associated with the vasculature of human skeletal muscle. These three cell populations: myogenic endothelial cells (MECs), pericytes (PCs), and adventitial cells (ACs), are localized respectively to the three structural layers of blood vessels: intima, media, and adventitia. All of these human blood-vessel-derived stem cell (hBVSC) populations not only express classic MSC markers but also possess mesodermal developmental potentials similar to typical MSCs. Previously, MECs, PCs, and ACs have been isolated through distinct protocols and subsequently characterized in separate studies. The current isolation protocol, through modifications to the isolation process and adjustments in the selective cell surface markers, allows us to simultaneously purify all three hBVSC subpopulations by FACS from a single human muscle biopsy. This new method will not only streamline the isolation of multiple BVSC subpopulations but also facilitate future clinical applications of hBVSCs for distinct therapeutic purposes.