Femoral Head Bone vs Acetabular Subchondral Bone: Selecting the Optimal Anatomical Site to Obtain Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Human Bone Marrow for Regenerative Medicine

Background: Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC) have a great importance for the field of regenerative
medicine. However, there is high variability in existing protocols for MSC in vitro expansion, which
can lead to low reproducibility of pre-clinical studies and, even more critically, the reduced safety
of patients undergoing clinical trials. Although bone marrow is one of the most important sources
for the isolation and in vitro culture of MSC, the preferred anatomical location for obtaining bone
marrow is often unclear, and this information is relevant for the interpretation of results obtained
from preclinical and clinical trials.
Methods: In this study, we compared various biological characteristics of human MSC obtained
from five total hip replacement surgery donors isolated from the bone marrow of two different
anatomical sites: the femoral head bone (Fh) and the acetabular subchondral bone (Ac). Using the
same surgical technique and collection volume, we compared the morphological characteristics,
fibroblast colony forming unit (CFU-F) capacity, immunophenotype, capacity for differentiation
(osteogenesis, condrogenesis, and adipogenesis) and population doubling time (PDT) of MSC
isolated from these distinct anatomical locations.
Results: Here, we show that human MSC isolated from Fh have improved morphological and
proliferative characteristics that are associated with higher in vitro efficiency for regenerative
medicine protocols compared with cells obtained from Ac.
Conclusion: This report provides information regarding the importance of establishing a "standard"
anatomical site for obtaining bone marrow as one of the most important requirements of the "preanalytical" phase of MSC in vitro expansion for regenerative medicine.