Objective: To investigate whether fetal bone marrow stromal cells have hemangioblastic characteristics.
Methods: Human fetal bone marrow stromal cells (hfMSCs) were isolated and cultured. Immunophenotypes of hfMSCs were tested by FACS. hfMSCs seeded in the matrigel were induced with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in vitro. Vascularization and hematopoiesis were detected with immunohistochemistry and electron microscope.
Results: The typical properties of this CD34- stromal cell population were that 99% cells expressed Flk1 (vascular endothelial cell growth factor receptor 2) and tube structure was formed. In the process of induction, hfMSCs could give rise to CD34+ round cells.
Conclusions: We have demonstrated that fetal bone marrow stroma-derived Flk1+ CD34- cells could differentiate into vascular endothelial cells and hematopoietic cells, indicating that fetal bone marrow stroma-derived Flk1+ CD34- cells have hemangioblastic characteristics.