Comparison of rabbit endothelial progenitor cells and mesenchymal stem cells: cytogenetic approach

Abstract

The aim of this preliminary work was to analyze metaphases of endothelial progenitor cells isolated from peripheral blood and mesenchymal stem cells harvested from rabbit bone marrow in order to assess the effect of culture conditions on the karyotype. We analyzed 30 metaphases of both endothelial cells and mesenchymal stem cells of a rabbit. Our preliminary results show that 73.3 % of endothelial cells retained stable number of chromosomes, while in mesenchymal stem cells we recorded moderately lower percentage (66.6 %). Changes in the genome may lead to changes in the gene expression as well as to dysfunctions of the cell activity. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze chromosomal abnormalities in order to monitor culture conditions, particularly in cells intended for the therapeutic use.