Figure 1From: Low physiologic oxygen tensions reduce proliferation and differentiation of human multipotent mesenchymal stromal cellsMorphological evaluation of MSC under different oxygen conditions. Photomicrographs of two representative MSC cultures from separate donors. In one culture no significant morphological difference after 3 weeks between 21% O2 (A) and 1% O2 (B) were found. In a second culture, MSC under 1% O2 did not adapt the typical triangular shape and became plastic-adherent, but died after 1 week (D), while the control cells maintained under 21% O2 (C) exhibited the characteristic MSC morphology. Obviously, donor-dependent factor greatly impact the growth and differentiation behavior of MSC under these conditions. Out of 10 cultures 3 showed growth under both oxygen tensions, whereas 7 displayed less tolerance to low oxygen tension of 1%.Back to article page