Culture and differentiation of purified human adipose-derived stem cells by membrane filtration: via nylon mesh filters

Human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) cultured for 5 passages were filtered through nylon (NY) mesh filter membranes coated with and without extracellular matrix proteins to obtain the permeation solution. Subsequently, the culture media were filtered via the membranes to obtain the recovery solution. Then, the membranes were cultured in cell culture medium to obtain the migrated cells from the membranes. The hASCs in the permeation solution, through any type of NY mesh filter membrane having 11 and 20 μm pore sizes, had lower osteogenic differentiation ability than conventional hASCs cultured on tissue culture polystyrene (TCP) dishes for passage 5, whereas the hASCs purified by the membrane migration method through NY mesh filter membranes coated with recombinant vitronectin, which have 11 and 20 μm pore sizes, showed a higher proliferation speed as well as higher osteogenic differentiation potential than the conventional hASCs cultured on TCP dishes for passage 5. The membrane filtration and migration methods would be useful for cell sorting for specific cells, such as hASCs with high proliferation and high osteogenic differentiation ability, which do not need antibody binding or genetic modification of the cells for the specific isolation of the cells.