Abstract:

BACKGROUND: There is little research about isolation of renal stem cells from the renal papillary in living donor and the characteristics of the cells.
OBJECTIVE: To isolate and identify the renal papilla stem cells in vitro, and compare their biological characteristics to bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.
METHODS: Cells in the tip of the renal papilla in Sprague-Dawley rats were isolated, and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were from the bone marrow cavities of femur and tibia. The cells were seeded in culture flasks respectively. DMEM/F12 media containing 10% fetal bovine serum were added into the culture flasks for culture and passage in vitro. When 70%-80% confluence, 0.25% Trypsin were used to digest and passage the cells. The third-passage cells were used for adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The renal papilla stem cells showed a rose-shaped and vortex-like growth and the cells were short spindle and polygons shaped. The growth curves of the cells were “S”-shape. The cells showed positive staining by oil red O after adipogenic differentiation, and orange calcium deposition could be seen in the cells by alizarin red staining after osteogenic differentiation. The flow cytometer analysis showed that CD29, CD44 and CD90 positively expressed in these cells, while CD45 negatively expressed in them. It is indicated that tissue stem cells containing the characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells exist in the renal papilla.