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Correspondence to: Sergei A. Kuznetsov, Building 30, Room 228 30 Convent Drive MSC 4320 Bethesda, MD 20892. Tel:(301) 402-2476 Fax:(301) 402-0824 E-mail:skuznets{at}mail.nih.gov.
We report the isolation of adherent, clonogenic, fibroblast-like cells with osteogenic and adipogenic potential from the blood of four mammalian species. These cells phenotypically resemble but are distinguishable from skeletal stem cells found in bone marrow (stromal stem cells, "mesenchymal stem cells"). The osteogenic potential of the blood-borne cells was proven by an in vivo transplantation assay in which either polyclonal or single colonyderived strains were transplanted into the subcutis of immunocompromised mice, and the donor origin of the fully differentiated bone cells was proven using species-specific probes. This is the first definitive proof of the existence of circulating skeletal stem cells in mammals.
Key Words: blood cells, tissue culture, adherent colonies, transplantation, osteogenesis
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