Reliable isolation of human mesenchymal stromal cells from bone marrow biopsy specimens in patients after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

Isolation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from pretreated, hematologic patients is challenging. Especially after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), standard protocols using bone marrow aspirates fail to reliably recover sufficient cell numbers. Because MSCs are considered to contribute to processes that mainly affect the outcome after transplantation, such as an efficient lymphohematopoietic recovery, extent of graft-versus-host disease as well as the occurrence of leukemic relapse, it is of great clinical relevance to investigate MSC function in this context. Previous studies showed that MSCs can be isolated by collagenase digestion of large bone fragments of hematologically healthy patients undergoing hip replacement or knee surgeries. We have now further developed this procedure for the isolation of MSCs from hematologic patients after allogeneic HCT by using trephine biopsy specimens obtained during routine examinations. Comparison of aspirates and trephine biopsy specimens from patients after allogeneic HCT revealed a significantly higher frequency of clonogenic MSCs (colony-forming unitfibroblast [CFU-F]) in trephine biopsy specimens (mean, 289.8 +/- standard deviation 322.5 CFU-F colonies/1 x 10(6) total nucleated cells versus 4.2 +/- 9.9; P < 0.0001). Subsequent expansion of functional MSCs isolated from trephine biopsy specimen was more robust and led to a significantly higher yield compared with control samples expanded from aspirates (median, 1.6 x 10(6); range, 02.3 x 10(7) P0 MSCs versus 5.4 x 10(4); range, 08.9 x 10(6); P < 0.0001). Using trephine biopsy specimens as MSC source facilitates the investigation of various clinical questions. Crown Copyright (C) 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy. All rights reserved.