Isolation of mesenchymal stem cells

A method for selecting and/or enriching mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from a sample, comprising the steps of

• contacting a sample containing mesenchymal stem cells and other cell types with a peptide, or a fragment thereof, wherein the peptide or fragment thereof specifically binds to mesenchymal stem cells, and wherein the peptide is selected from the group consisting of laminin-1, collagen-1, collagen-3, collagen-4, tenascin, thrombospondin-1, osteopontin, fibronectin, vitronectin, and mixtures thereof, thereby allowing binding of the peptide or fragment thereof to mesenchymal stem cells,
• selecting and/or enriching the mesenchymal stem cells bound to the peptide or fragment thereof from the other cell types not bound to the peptide or fragment thereof.