Xeno-free culture of human periodontal ligament stem cells.

The possibility of transplanting adult stem cells into damaged organs has opened a new prospective for the treatment of several human pathologies. Currently, in vitro expansion and culture of mesenchymal stem cells is founded on supplementing cell culture and differentiation medium with fetal calf serum (FCS) or fetal bovine serum (FBS) that contain numerous growth factors inducing cell attachment to plastic surfaces, proliferation, and differentiation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cultured with medium containing FCS or FBS are unusable in the cell therapy; in fact the central issues regarding limitations in using animal sera for cell therapy is that its components are highly variable and often unknown and may trigger a xenogenic immune response, immunological reactions, and the potential transmission of prion diseases and zoonoses. Here we describe the culture system protocols for the expansion and production of human Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells (hPDLSCs) using a new xeno-free medium formulation ensuring the maintenance of the stem cells features comprising the multiple passage expansion, mesengenic lineage differentiation, cellular phenotype, and genomic stability, essential elements for conforming to translation to cell therapy.