Bone marrow- and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells from donors with coronary artery disease; growth, yield, gene expression and the effect of oxygen concentration.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for cardiovascular cell therapy are procured from different sources including bone marrow and adipose tissue. Differently located MSCs differ in growth potential, differentiation ability and gene expression when cultured in vitro, and studies show different healing abilities for different MSC subgroups. In this study, bone marrow derived MSCs (BMSCs) and adipose tissue derived MSCs (ADSCs) from six human donors with coronary artery disease were compared for growth potential and expression of target genes (Angpt1, LIF, HGF, TGF-β1 and VEGF-A) in response to exposure to 1% and 5% O2, for up to 48 h. We found greater growth of ADSCs compared to BMSCs. ADSCs expressed higher levels of Angpt1, LIF and TGF-β1 and equal levels of VEGF-A and HGF as BMSCs. In BMSCs, exposure to low oxygen resulted in upregulation of TGF-β1, whereas other target genes were unaffected. Upregulation was only present at 1% O2. In ADSCs, LIF was upregulated in both oxygen concentrations, whereas Angpt1 was upregulated only at 1% O2. Different response to reduced oxygen culture conditions is of relevance when expanding cells in vitro prior to administration. These findings indicate ADSCs as better suited for cardiovascular cell therapy compared to BMSCs.