Whole-Genome Sequencing Identifies Genetic Variances in Culture-Expanded Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Culture-expanded human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are increasingly used in clinics, yet full characterization of the genomic compositions of these cells is lacking. We present a whole-genome investigation on the genetic dynamics of cultured MSCs under ex vivo establishment (passage 1 [p1]) and se...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jun Cai, Xuexia Miao, Yueying Li, Cory Smith, Kitman Tsang, Linzhao Cheng, Qian-fei Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2014-08-01
Series:Stem Cell Reports
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213671114001854
Description
Summary:Culture-expanded human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are increasingly used in clinics, yet full characterization of the genomic compositions of these cells is lacking. We present a whole-genome investigation on the genetic dynamics of cultured MSCs under ex vivo establishment (passage 1 [p1]) and serial expansion (p8 and p13). We detected no significant changes in copy-number alterations (CNAs) and low levels of single-nucleotide changes (SNCs) until p8. Strikingly, a significant number (677) of SNCs were found in p13 MSCs. Using a sensitive Droplet Digital PCR assay, we tested the nonsynonymous SNCs detected by whole-genome sequencing and found that they were preexisting low-frequency mutations in uncultured mononuclear cells (∼0.01%) and early-passage MSCs (0.1%–1% at p1 and p8) but reached 17%–36% in p13. Our data demonstrate that human MSCs maintain a stable genomic composition in the early stages of ex vivo culture but are subject to clonal growth upon extended expansion.
ISSN:2213-6711