A. (low magnification) and B. (high magnification) show a 7 day culture of BMSCs from normal volunteers compared with C. (low magnification) and D. (high magnification) that are samples of SM patients. All images were photographed under the same conditions. E. normal donor and F. patient sample demonstrate β-gal staining, a marker of senescence, strongly labeling cells in the patient’s culture. G. The rate of proliferation was assessed by BrdU incorporation, also suggesting that in all conditions, the BMSCs from the patients seem to be disadvantaged. The samples were pooled from 3 patients and three volunteers to get enough cells to perform the assays. The experiments were performed in triplicate samples. Abbreviations: FGF2 = fibroblast growth factor 2; Scale: 100 μm (A–D), 50 μm (E, F). Statistical significance is labeled as ** = p<0.01 and *** = p<0.001