Human bronchial fibroblasts exhibit a mesenchymal stem cell phenotype and multilineage differentiating potentialities

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells able to differentiate along different pathways including chondrogenic, osteogenic and adipogenic lineages. MSCs with a fibroblast-like morphology have been identified in human fetal lung. However, their frequency and characterization in human adult lung have not been yet evaluated. Therefore, we analyzed the mesenchymal phenotype and differentiation ability of cultured human adult bronchial...