Korean Journal of Anatomy  2003;36(5):381-387

The Efficient Gene Delivery into Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Using Retroviral Vectors.

Sung Soo KIM 1 ; Bum Jun KIM ; Haeyoung Suh KIM

Affiliations

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Keywords

Mesenchymal stem cells; Gene therapy; Retrovirus; Transfection

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into several mesenchymal lineage cells. In this study, we established an efficient method for gene delivery into these cells. Non-viral transfection reagents that were commercially available yielded 5% efficiency. In contrast, a retroviral vector yielded more than 46% transduction, which was further increased to 90% by repetitive infection. Retroviral transduction did not alter the multipotency of hMSCs. Thus, the cells retained the potential to differentiate into adipogenic, chondrogenic, or osteogenic lineages. The conditions established in this study will contribute to development of trans-differentiation methods of hMSCs into non-mesodermal lineage cells and thereby facilitate their possible use as vehicles for autologous transplantation in both cell and gene therapy for various diseases.