Morphological Properties of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Bone Marrow of Rhesus Monkeys

To establish an in vitro system for isolating and culturing the mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) of Rhesus monkeys, and to provide research data for its further application, the bone marrow of Rhesus monkeys was collected and separated by gradient centrifugation to discard most of the blood cells. The MSC contained in the monocyte centrifuging layer was obtained and cultured in Dulbecco's modified media (low glucose, L-DMEM) supplemented with 10% Fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1 ng/ml basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). The non-MSC was screened out by continuously renewing the medium. A passage culture was undertaken while the MSC monolayer formed. The spindle-shaped MSC formed a monolayer after 18 days of primary culturing, and the cells appeared in an oriented array with a swirling and irradiating growth trend. In the anaphase of passage culture, the cell proliferation rate was decreased and the morphology changed into triangular, polygon and flat appearance. These results suggested that mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) of the Rhesus monkey can be passaged in vitro with the established optimized culture system.