Fig. 5

Proliferation and colony forming capacity of UC- and BM-derived MSCs. a The proliferative capacity of UC-MSCs, group 1 (left) and of BM-MSCs, group 3 (right) is comparable in the presence and absence of fibrinogen and heparin. UC-MSCs, group 2 (middle) show significantly enhanced mitogenic response to heparin if consistently isolated and cultivated in presence of heparin in fibrinogen-depleted medium (medium C) compared to standard medium A (+fib/+hep). All data shown are mean values of total cell counts of three subsequent passages done in triplicates ± standard deviation (SD) of five (UC-MSCs, group 1 and group 2) or three (BM-MSCs, group 3) independent donors. b UC-MSCs, group 1 (left) show equal colony forming capacity independent of the medium type used. Number of CFUs in UC-MSCs, group 2 (middle) is comparable between medium A (+fib/+hep) and B (−fib/−hep), but significantly enhanced in the presence of heparin (medium C; −fib/+ hep). Colony count of BM-MSCs, group 3 was reduced in comparison to UC-MSCs but independent of media conditions. Data shown are mean values of total colony counts of three subsequent passages done in triplicates ± standard deviation (SD). The significance level is indicated by asterisks (* p < 0.05). c UC-MSCs, group 1 showed smaller and more colony forming units compared to UC-MSCs, group 2 and BM-MSCs, group 3. CFU numbers of UC-MSC group 1 and BM-MSCs were independent of the medium type used for MSC isolation and cultivation. UC-MSC group 2 showed significantly more colonies in medium C (−fib/+hep), as compared to standard medium A (+fib/+hep) and medium B (−fib/−hep). Images show representative colonies of each MSC group, all passage = 2