A method of qualifying whether a cell population is a suitable therapeutic is disclosed. The method comprises: (a) incubating a population of undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in a differentiating medium comprising basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), heregulin and cAMP for at least two days to obtain a population of differentiated MSCs; and (b) analyzing the expression of CD49 a in the differentiated MSC population, wherein an amount of CD49 a above a predetermined level indicative of the cell population being suitable as a therapeutic.