Fig. 1

Culture and characterization of osteoblasts: Bone marrow was shredded and cultivated. a Osteoblasts started growing and after 10–14 days (the asterix indicates bone); b a near confluent layer of homogenous cells was obtained. c The cells produced collagen type I (stained in red; nuclei in blue); and d bone sialoglycoprotein (BSP) (stained in green) as seen by laser scan microscopy and e by cytofluorometry of detached cells (thick line; the thin line shows the isotype control). f The osteoblasts in early passage express CD90 (thick line; the thin line shows the isotype control); expression increases with time in culture and passage number as seen by an increase of the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI)