Bone marrow (BM) and adipose tissue (AT) are two main sources of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for basic and clinical studies. MSC populations obtained from different tissues exhibit significant differences in gene expression profile which should be taken into consideration when planning their use in clinical protocols. In spite of more than a decade of investigation, little is known about the exact molecular mechanisms regulating multipotency or pluripotency state of MSCs. Our aim was to compare expression status of SOX-2 in BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs, as a factor that involve in maintenance of the pluripotent state of embryonic stem cells. For this purpose, MSCs were isolated from adipose tissue and bone marrow of 3 mares, cultured and passaged until passage3 (P3). Differentiation potential of P3-MSCs was confirmed by their osteogenic, chondrogenic and adipogenic differetiation in vitro. Total RNA was extracted from P3 cells and reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was done. We found that SOX-2 is expressed in cultured equine BM- MSCs, but not in AT- MSCs. This indicates that although BM- MSCs and AT-MSCs seem to be closely related, there are differences in their biological characteristics which can affect their in vivo biological behavior. More investigation is needed to clarify if sox-2 expression is obligatory for BM-MSC pluripotency.

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