Feasibility of serum-free culture in isolating endometriotic stem cells

Abstract

Feasibility of serum-free culture in isolating endometriotic stem cells Songping Liu1, Xin Tian2, Hongyan Cui2, Qiong Zhang2, Keqin Hua1 1Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhenjiang Maternal and Child Hospital, Zhenjiang (China) Summary Objective: To explore a novel approach for the isolation of human endometriotic stem cells for further study in the stem cell theory of endometriosis. Materials and Methods: A serum-free medium (SFM) was used to isolate the stem cells from ectopic endometrium, eutopic endometrium, and normal endometrium in vitro, and the biological properties including clonogenicity, multipotency, and invasive ability were examined and compared. Results: The ectopic endometrium-derived stem cells cultured in SFM showed higher cloneforming efficiency and sphere formation efficiency (SFE) than eutopic endometrium and normal endometrium, they all can differentiate to endothelial cell and fibroblast, and the ectopic endometrium-derived stem cells also have stronger invasive ability than eutopic endometrium- derived and normal endometrium-derived stem cells. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, the authors can conclude that human endometriotic stem cells can be isolated in SFM effectively and ectopic endometrium-derived stem cells are probably associated with endometriosis. Key words: Endometriosis; Stem cells; Cell culture techniques; Serum-free media.