Ganglioside expression delineates human mesenchymal stem/stromal cell populations derived from different tissue sources.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Prior studies have indicated that human embryonic stem cells can be distinguished from those of other mammals based on variable expression of a class of membrane glycolipids known as glycosphingolipids (GSLs), raising the question as to whether GSL display could be utilized to phenotypically define subsets of human adult stem cell populations. Adult stem cells known as "mesenchymal stem/stromal cells" (MSCs) have shown immense promise in therapeutic applications for a variety of clinical indications. Most commonly, these cells are harnessed and then culture-expanded from bone-marrow (BM-MSCs) or from adipose tissue (A-MSCs) sources. Though operational differences exist between human BM-MSCs and A-MSCs, no surface markers have been characterized to date that distinguish these as distinct subsets of culture-expanded human adult stem cells. Accordingly, we isolated GSLs from primary cultures of marrow- and adipose-derived human MSCs and an unbiased screen was performed by mass spectrometry (via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-quadrupole ion trap (QIT)-time-of-flight (TOF), hence, via "MALDI-QIT-TOF") to analyze all component glycans. Flow cytometry was then undertaken to assess the relative levels of expression of MS-defined glycan determinants, followed by RT-qPCR to measure transcripts of genes encoding key enzymes involved in glycolipid biosynthesis. Notably

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.