Circulating factors present in the sera of naturally skinny people may influence cell commitment and adipocyte differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells

Figure 3 Colony Forming Units assay to evaluate the effect of sera on mesenchymal stromal cell stemness. The upper picture shows representative crystal violet staining of clones obtained after treatment of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with normal people or skinny people sera. The numbers below culture plates indicate the MSC colonies identified in the two experimental conditions (n = 3, data are expressed ± SD). The lower pictures show representative adipo-osteo and chondro-staining to analyze MSC clonal differentiation process. The table reports the result of the clonal differentiation assay, which shows clones with tri-, bi-, and unipotent ability. Data are expressed with SD (^bP < 0.01). NP: Normal people; SP: Skinny people; A: Adipogenic phenotype; O: Osteogenic phenotype; C: Chondrogenic phenotype.