I would like to know how homogenous the MSC population is and if all cells become osteoblasts when grown in MSC Osteogenic Differentiation Medium (C-28013).

Question

Accepted Answer

Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells have retained the ability to differentiate into a variety of cell types including fat cells, chondrocytes, and osteoblasts. PromoCell supply hMSC from 3 different tissues: bone marrow (hMSC-BM; C-12974), umbilical cord matrix (hMSC-UC; C-12971), and adipose tissue (hMSC-AT; C-12977).

MSC-BM show very good differentiation into bone cells but also into chondrocytes and fat cells when the respective Differentiation Media is used.
MSC-UC have a high potential to differentiate into chondrocytes but only weak potential for fat or bone cell differentiation.
In contrast, MSC-AT differentiate very well into fat and bone cells but only moderately into chondrocytes.

In other words, to obtain a high percentage of bone cells, MSC-BM or MSC-AT are the cells of choice. There are of course lot-to-lot variations and the differentiation will decrease from passage to passage. If you need MSCs with a particularly high osteoblast differentiation capacity, you can contact our Scientific Support before placing your order so that we can select an appropriate cell lot for you.