Isolation and Functional Characterization of Equine Adipos Tissue Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from different sources are self-renewing progenitor cells with multipotent differentiation capacity. MSCs posed the capacity to proliferate extensively in vitro in optimal culture conditions, and represents the key factors in regenerative medicine. Our objective was to isolate and characterize equine MSCs from adipose tissue. Samples were obtained during castration. The adipose tissue samples were enzymatically digested and the isolated cells were cultured in DMEM/F12 medium. MSCs were characterized by morphology, multilineage differentiation capacity and expression of specific markers. Equine adipose tissue derived stem cells displayed mostly fibroblastic–like morphology, capable of trilineage diffentiation capacity and showed significant expression of CD105, CD44, CD90, CD49 while were negative for CD43 and CD73. This study demonstrated the characteristics of equine adipose tissue derived stem cells, ideal candidate for veterinary regenerative medicine.