About the Authors

Foteini Hassiotou

foteini.hassiotou@uwa.edu.au

Affiliations School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Anna R. Hepworth

Affiliation School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Tracey M. Williams

Affiliation School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Alecia-Jane Twigger

Affiliations School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Sharon Perrella

Affiliation School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Ching Tat Lai

Affiliation School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Luis Filgueira

Affiliations School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Anatomy Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

Donna T. Geddes

Affiliation School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Peter E. Hartmann

Affiliation School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Competing Interests

Funding for this study was provided by an unrestricted research grant from Medela AG, Baar, Switzerland. The experimental set-up used in this study was also included in the following pending patent applications: Australian patent application number 2012202353 entitled “Stem cell preparations and methods of use” filed on 20 April 2012; US patent application number 13/866,221 entitled “Stem cell preparations and methods of use” filed on 19 April 2013; and International patent application PCT/IB2013/053061 entitled “Stem cell preparations and methods of use” filed on 18 April 2013. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: FH ARH PEH. Performed the experiments: FH TMW AJT. Analyzed the data: FH ARH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SP CTL LF DTG. Wrote the paper: FH. Critically reviewed the manuscript: ARH TMW SP LF DTG PEH.