The key difference between mesenchymal markers and stem cell markers is that mesenchymal markers originate from the multipotent mesoderm derived progenitor cells while stem cell markers originate from embryonic stem cells or pluripotent stem cell surfaces.
Mesenchymal stem cells or MSCs are adult stem cells that are multipotent. These MSCs give rise to many cell types in skeletal tissues, which include adipocytes, bones, tendons, cartilages, ligaments, and muscles. They also differentiate into heart muscle cells, endothelial cells, pancreatic islet cells, and nerves. Stem cells are indefinite dividing cells that give rise to differentiated cell types. Stem cells are known to fill up or replace tissues like blood, bones, gametes, epithelia, nerves, muscles, and other tissues with fresh cells. Both MSCs and stem cells contain markers in order to isolate, identify and characterize the respective cells for cell-based therapeutic applications in regenerative medicine.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Mesenchymal Markers
3. What are Stem Cell Markers
4. Similarities – Mesenchymal Markers and Stem Cell Markers
5. Mesenchymal Markers vs Stem Cell Markers in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Mesenchymal Markers vs Stem Cell Markers
What are Mesenchymal Markers?
Mesenchymal markers are a group of cell surface markers. They are present or absent in mesenchymal stem cells, which are used to isolate and identify multipotent mesoderm-derived progenitor cells (mesenchymal stem cells). These mesenchymal cells have the ability to differentiate into cells that make up adipose, bone, cartilage, and muscle tissues. They provide a wide potential in the development of cell-based therapies. The mesenchymal stem cells are identified through the cell surface markers which include CD10, CD13, CD19, CD29, CD31, CD34, CD44, CD90, CD49a-f, CD51, CD73, CD105, CD106, CD166, and Stro-1. These also lack an immunogenic effect and have the ability to replace the damaged tissue. These features promote the isolation and characterization effect of mesenchymal markers.
Figure 01: Mesenchymal Markers
Mesenchymal markers are of two categories: sole markers and stemness markers. Sole markers alone are sufficient to identify or purify mesenchymal stem cells like cells under in vitro conditions. Stemness markers are able to identify a subset of mesenchymal stem cells with high colony forming units or to identify embryonic stem cell-like cells. These markers are positive and negative according to their expression.
What are Stem Cell Markers?
Stem cell markers are genes and their proteins that are used to isolate and identify stem cells. Stem cells are also identified through functional assays. These assays are known as the gold standard for identification and therapeutic purposes. Even though functional assays act as an ideal approach for the identification of stem cells, the molecular markers or stem cell markers provide a systematic approach in the identification of stem cells. These markers are produced in embryonic stem cells or pluripotent stem cells.
Stem cell marker profiles fluctuate depending on the origin, species, and so-called stemness of the stem cell population. Two important features of these markers are the expression pattern and timing. These facilitate efficient identification, isolation, and characterization of stem cells. A few of these stem cells are embryonic, mesenchymal/stromal, hematopoietic, and neural stem cells. Few examples of stem cell marker antibodies are CD31 antibodies, CD4 antibodies, Nestin antibodies, Neurofilament antibodies, SOX2 antibodies, OCT4 antibodies. These stem cell markers have the ability to provoke an immune response.
What are the Similarities Between Mesenchymal Markers and Stem Cell Markers?
- Mesenchymal markers and stem cell markers are proteins.
- Both markers use a common method for the recognition and determination of cells through a cluster of differentiation (CD) protocol.
What is the Difference Between Mesenchymal Markers and Stem Cell Markers?
Mesenchymal markers contain positive and negative markers according to their expression, while stem cell markers only contain a single type of antibody marker. So, this is the key difference between mesenchymal markers and stem cell markers. Moreover, stem cell markers have an immunogenic effect, while mesenchymal markers do not have the immunogenic effect of provoking immune responses. Thus, this is another important difference between mesenchymal markers and stem cell markers.
The below infographic summarizes the differences between mesenchymal markers and stem cell markers in tabular form.
Summary – Mesenchymal Markers vs Stem Cell Markers
Mesenchymal markers are a group of cell surface markers that are present or absent in mesenchymal stem cells. They are used to isolate and identify multipotent mesoderm-derived progenitor cells (mesenchymal stem cells). Stem cell markers are genes and their proteins that are used to isolate and identify stem cells. Stem cells are also identified through functional assays. Mesenchymal markers are of two categories: sole markers and stemness markers. Stem cell marker profiles fluctuate depending on the origin, species, and so-called stemness of the stem cell population. Both markers are used in cell-based therapeutics applications. Thus, this is the summary of the difference between mesenchymal markers and stem cell markers.
Reference:
1. “Mesenchymal Stem Cells.” Novus Biologicals.
Image Courtesy:
1. “MIF-Induced Mesenchymal Marker in Pancreatic Cancer” By NIH Image Gallery (CC BY-NC 2.0) via Flickr