Effects of aging on Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

In the present study we analyzed the effect of advanced donor age on the transcriptome of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC; alternatively named mesenchymal stromal cells) from bone marrow. Human MSC of elderly and middle-aged patients without symptoms of osteoporosis were isolated from femoral heads after total hip arthroplasty. Cells were isolated from human bone marrow according to the previously described protocol (Noth et al., 2002, J Orthop Res, 20/5, 1060-1069) under agreement of the local Ethics Committee of the University of Würzburg. Bone marrow was obtained of femoral heads after total hip arthroplasty due to osteoarthritis and/or hip dysplasia. RNA samples were taken from passage 1 or passage 2.