Isolation of mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow aspirate

The ultimate goal of separating the constituent cell populations in bone marrow is the identification of the multiple phenotypes present within the heterogeneous marrow community, potentially for use in clinical therapies. These cell populations are small in number and show diversity in their origins and differentiation capability. This presents a major challenge for the methodologies that have been developed for isolation and separation. This chapter outlines the markers that have been identified for the isolation of different fractions from within a bone marrow sample, including mesenchymal stem cells. Routine approaches for large-scale identification have been put into practice for isolating stromal and hematopoietic populations, while other markers for many of the subpopulations are still being defined. Technologies that have been developed for the isolation of stem cell populations within bone marrow ranging from magnetic to optical to microfluidic techniques are described. Current research includes developing single-cell technologies for isolating and defining low numbers of stem cell populations that can form cloned stock populations for allogeneic therapies. These technologies form an important basis for ultimately bringing cell therapies to the clinic for treatment of a variety of diseases.