Figure 2.

Effect of serum source on cell viability, proliferation, and morphology of equine MSCs in culture. (A) Viability of equine MSCs plated at 50,000 cells/well on a 24-well plate in either 10% FBS or autologous or allogeneic equine serum was assessed via trypan blue dye exclusion over 72 h in culture, demonstrating no difference in viability between culture conditions. (B) Proliferation of MSCs plated on 6-well plates at 100,000 cells/well was assessed by quantitative cell count at baseline and over 72 h in culture, demonstrating that cells cultured in 10% FBS proliferated at a faster rate compared to those in either autologous and allogeneic equine serum. (C) Morphology of MSCs plated in different serum sources on 6-well plates at 100,000 cells/well was assessed visually via microscopy over 72 h. All MSCs demonstrated characteristic fibroblastic morphology, although cells cultured in FBS proliferated faster by visual assessment. Bars are mean and standard deviation of three biological replicates. *Statistical significance assessed at p < 0.05. ns, non-significant statistical analysis.