Asian Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances1683-99191996-3289Academic Journals Inc.10.3923/ajava.2015.537.548GugjooMudasir Bashir Amarpal KinjavdekarPrakash AithalHari Prasad Matin AnsariMohd PawdeAbhijit MotiRam SharmaGutulla Taru 1020151010Mesenchymal stem cells are recognised based upon the plastic adherence, fibroblastic morphology, expression of certain surface markers, non-expression of haematopoetic markers and their ability to differentiate into atleast three lineages viz., adipogenic, chondrogenic and osteogenic. The rabbit Mesenchymal Stem Cells (rMSCs) though used extensively in research but have not been thoroughly studied and are not compared to other species. The present study was therefore conducted to determine the morphology, surface markers and trilineage differentiation potential of New Zealand white rabbit MSCs. Isolation of rMSCs was done by an established method of density gradient method using Ficoll-hapaque. The cells were characterised by Phase Contrast Microscopy, Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and Alkaline Phosphatase (AP) staining. The cells isolated were plastic adherent and had fibroblastic spindle shape with eccentric irregular nuclei. The cells expressed surface markers viz., CD 105 and CD 106 besides expressing genes of collagen type II and I. Haematopoetic markers (CD 34 and CD 45) and aggrecan gene however, were not expressed. The rMSCs showed a moderate alkaline phosphates activity. Trilineage differentiation was conducted utilizing prepared differentiation media and rMSCs were differentiated into corresponding cell lineages based upon the medium used. It was concluded that rMSCs possess morphology similar to other species with good proliferation rate and exhibit the characteristics laid down by International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT). The present study provided basic protocols for characterization of rabbit MSCs that should be used before application of these cells for any research or therapy.]]>Amarpal, P. Kinjavdekar, H.P. Aithal, A.M. Pawde, J. Singh and R. Udehiya,201037223229Amini, A.R., C.T. Laurencin and S.P. Nukavarapu,20123015071515Ansari, M.M., T.R. Sreekumar, V. Chandra, P.K. Dubey, G.S. Kumar, Amarpal and G.T. Sharma,20132013Caplan, A.I.,20051111981211Castro-Malaspina, H., R.E. Gay, G. Resnick, N. Kapoor and P. Meyers et al.,198056289301Chong, P.P., L. Selvaratnam, A.A. Abbas and T. Kamarul,201230634642Conget, P.A. and J.J. Minguell,19991816773Cutts, J., M. Nikkhah and D.A. Brafman,2015107790Docheva, D., D. Padula, C. Popov, W. Mutschler, H. Clausen-Schaumann and M. Schieker,200812537552Dominici, M., K. le Blanc, I. Mueller, I. Slaper-Cortenbach and F. Marini et al.,20068315317Fortier, L.A., J.U. Barker, E.J. Strauss, T.M. McCarrel and B.J. Cole,201146927062715Fox, R.R.,198427393402Fu, W.L., J.Y. Zhang, X. Fu, X.N. Duan and K.K.M. Leung et al.,20121817931803Gade, N.E., M.D. Pratheesh, A. Nath, P.K. Dubey and Amarpal et al.,201348358367Gao, Y., G. Zhao, D. Li, X. Chen, J. Pang and J. Ke,2014152098220996Gong, X., Z. Sun, D. Cui, X. Xu and H. Zhu et al.,201438405411Guest, D.J., J.C. Ousey and M.R.W. Smith,2008119Gugjoo, M.B., A. Amarpal, G.T. Sharma, H.P. Aithal and P. Kinjavdekar,20152015Im, G.I., D.Y. Kim, J.H. Shin, C.W. Hyun and W.H. Cho,200183289294Kaiser, S., B. Hackanson, M. Follo, A. Mehlhorn, K. Geiger, G. Ihorst and U. Kapp,20079439450Kumar, S.,20132013Kuo, C.K. and R.S. Tuan,20081416151627Lapi, S., F. Nocchi, R. Lamanna, S. Passeri and M. Iorio et al.,20082008Lee, J.Y., M.H. Choi, E.Y. Shin and Y.K. Kang,2011® for structural bone allograft healing in rabbits.]]>12299309Martin, D.R., N.R. Cox, T.L. Hathcock, G.P. Niemeyer and H.J. Baker,200230879886Neuhuber, B., S.A. Swanger, L. Howard, A. Mackay and I. Fischer,20083611761185Pittenger, M.F., A.M. Mackay, S.C. Beck, R.K. Jaiswal and R. Douglas et al.,1999284143147Ribitsch, I., J. Burk, U. Delling, C. Geiβler, C. Gittel, H. Julke and W. Brehm,2010123219263Singh, N.K., S. Shiwani, G.R. Singh, D.K. Jeong and P. Kinjavdekar et al.,201232412417Sun, H., F. Ye, J. Wang, Y. Shi and Z. Tu et al.,20084026452648Tan, S.L., T.S. Ahmad, L. Selvaratnam and T. Kamarul,2013222437450Tay, L.X., R.E. Ahmad, H. Dashtdar, K.W. Tay and T. Masjuddin et al.,2012408390Udehiya, R.K., Amarpal, P. Kinjavdekar, H.P. Aithal, A. Nath, A.M. Pawde and G.T. Sharma,2013ex vivo expansion and characterization of rabbit Bone Marrow derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (rBM-MSCs).]]>344146Warden, S.J.,200741232240Woodbury, D., K. Reynolds and I.B. Black,200269908917Xie, X., Y. Wang, C. Zhao, S. Guo and S. Liu et al.,20123370087018Zhou, J., H. Lin, T. Fang, X. Li, W. Dai, T. Uemura and J. Dong,20103111711179Woodbury, D., K. Reynolds and I.B. Black,200269908917