Commercially available human BMSCs were obtained (
hMSC-BM; PromoCell, Heidelberg, Germany; C-12974, lot number: 412Z022.4) as described previously.
2 BMSCs were cultured with a complete culture medium, namely, Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (with low glucose levels; 2 mg/mL) containing
L-glutamine and phenol red (
DMEM; FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation, Osaka, Japan), supplemented with 20%
HyClone fetal bovine serum (FBS; Cytiva, Tokyo, Japan), 1% penicillin/streptomycin, 1·25 mg/mL
fungizone (Life Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA), 1%
HEPES (Life Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific), and 0·1% bFGF (Kaken Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) in a humidified atmosphere (20% O
2, 5% CO
2, 37°C) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The medium was replaced twice per week, and BMSCs from the fourth passage process were used (six passages in total similar to that with RECs).
Ukeba D., Yamada K., Suyama T., Lebl D.R., Tsujimoto T., Nonoyama T., Sugino H., Iwasaki N., Watanabe M., Matsuzaki Y, & Sudo H. (2022). Combination of ultra-purified stem cells with an in situ-forming bioresorbable gel enhances intervertebral disc regeneration. EBioMedicine, 76, 103845.