体外培养脐血单个核细胞与CD34+富集细胞

对比MNC和CD34⁺富集细胞在SCF+IL-3+IL-6+FL+Tpo细胞因子组合下的体外扩增特性,发现：CD34⁺富集细胞具有很高的扩增潜力,在本实验条件下其总细胞持续扩增了8周,扩增倍数达31270.9±8640.5倍;而MNC在培养至第4周扩增就已呈现下降趋势,最大仅扩增了53.3±6.2倍。对比集落和CD34⁺细胞的扩增发现,MNC的集落密度和CD34⁺细胞含量由第0天至第7天有一个上升的过程,而CD34⁺富集细胞在培养过程中,集落密度和CD34⁺细胞含量却始终呈下降趋势。在体外培养过程中,CD34⁺富集细胞的CFU-GM和CD34⁺细胞最大分别扩增了185.7±14.1和191.7±188.8倍,明显高于MNC的12.4±3.2和50.6±33.2倍;而CD34⁺富集细胞和MNC的BFU-E则只实现了少量扩增,分别为7.2±5.2和10.1±3.4倍。结果显示,从CD34⁺富集细胞出发扩增造血干/祖细胞,可以得到更多的CD34⁺细胞和CFU-GM集落形成细胞。      

脐血造血细胞的体外扩增：2.造血细胞生长因子和培养液更换的作用

研究了造血干细胞生长因子、白介素-3、白介素-6、粒-巨噬细胞集落刺激因子、粒细胞集落刺激因子及红细胞生成素对脐血造血细胞体外培养的影响及其剂量关系,考察了造血细胞因子单独与联合作用对造血细胞体外培养的影响,证实细胞因子组合使用比细胞因子单独使用效果更好,发现SCF+IL-3+IL-6+GM-CSF+G-CSF+EPO组合对总细胞扩增最佳,SCF+IL-3+IL6+GM-CSF组合对CFU-GM扩增最佳。实验发现培养液更换可大大提高脐血造血细胞总数和祖细胞数产出。在每天更换50%培养液下,脐血总细胞数在第三周扩增了27倍,祖细胞数扩增了21倍。     

搅拌式生物反应器中造血细胞的灌注培养

为了消除造血细胞静态培养中存在的浓度梯度和搅拌悬浮培养时换液引起的波动,为造血细胞体外扩增提供更理想的培养环境和操作方式,利用自主开发的造血细胞重力沉降截留系统结合有溶氧和pH控制的生物反应器进行了脐血造血细胞的灌注培养。两次灌注培养中总细胞分别扩增11.5和18.6倍,扩增倍数最大时,CFU-Mix分别扩增23.2倍和20.4倍、 CFU-GM扩增13.9倍和21.5倍、BFU-E 扩增8.0倍和6.9倍、CD34⁺细胞扩增17.1倍和15.4倍。培养到12d时,第一次实验由267×10⁶单个核细胞扩增得到1082×10⁶个总细胞,6.31×10⁶个CFU-GM,6.2×10⁶个CFU-Mix和23×10⁶个CD34⁺细胞;第二次实验由180×10⁶单个核细胞扩增得到1.080×10⁶个总细胞,4.65×10⁶个CFU-GM,11.0×10⁶个CFU-Mix和25.0×10⁶个CD34⁺细胞,这达到了临床规模,由于控制了较低的溶氧和稳定的培养环境,细胞中干/祖细胞含量显著高于方瓶。但灌注培养到后期细胞密度达到较高后,细胞生长受到抑制,这应该是由细胞密度过高本身所引起。搅拌式反应器中进行灌注培养有利于造血干/祖细胞的进一步扩增,培养得到的细胞中干/祖细胞含量较高,培养规模达到了临床要求,但过高的细胞密度将对造血细胞的生长产生抑制。     

FL对脐血造血细胞长期液体培养的影响*

用脐血进行千细胞移植有许多优点,但有一个主要的缺点是可获得的细胞数量有限。因此脐血干细胞的体外扩增对于其临床应用具有重要意义。考察了Flt-3配体(FL)和干细胞因子(SCF)、白介索3(IL一3)、IL-6、粒细胞集落刺激因子(G-csF)、粒细胞巨噬细胞集落刺激因子(GM—CSF)的组合对脐血细胞扩增和分化的影响。培养42d,总细胞最多扩增了385,30±163 51倍(FL+SCF+G．CSF+GM—CSF),粒细胞巨噬细胞集落形成单位(CFU-GM)在第28天达到最高,最高扩增了409．52±189．50倍(FL十SCF+IL-3+IL一6)。FL与SCF等细胞因子具有协同作用,对所有考察的细胞因子组合中,加入FL都使总细胞和CFUGM的扩增倍数增加。FL+SCF培养的总细胞扩增最小,而CFU-GM长时间保持在较高水平,表明这FL和SCF有利于保持造血干细胞的活性,防止细胞分化。在存在G-CSF和GMCSF的培养中,总细胞获得了最大的扩增,但CFU-GM达到最大后很快下降至O,表明G-CSF和GM—CSF促进了细胞的分化。结果提示,细胞因子组合对脐血造血细胞的扩增和分化具有重要的作用．FL和SCF可促进造血细胞的扩增,而G-CSF和GM—CSF等可导致细胞的过度分化。     

冻存时间对脐血造血细胞体外增殖潜能的影响

目的研究冻存时间对脐血造血细胞增殖潜能的影响.方法在所分离的脐血有核细胞中加入联合低温保护剂Dextran-40+10%DMSO,经梯度降温后置液氮深低温保存.采用无血清造血细胞扩增液对冻存不同时间的脐血造血细胞进行体外扩增,动态监测扩增潜能.结果将冻存1个月、4个月脐血造血细胞体外扩增5周,其总有核细胞分别被扩增了(1499.0±115.6)倍和(1513.0±110.4)倍,FCs均于体外扩增的第3周达到高峰,分别扩增了(53.8±6.3)倍和(54.8±6.7)倍,D34+造血细胞于体外扩增的第2周均达到高峰,分别扩增了(63.8±6.1)倍和(62.4±5.7)倍;统计分析冻存1个月与4个月后造血细胞扩增结果,不存在显著性差异,>0.05.结论在适宜深低温条件下冻存脐血造血细胞,在一定时间内,冻存时间的长短不会导致其增殖潜能下降.     

转基因骨髓基质细胞系对人脐血CD34+细胞的体外扩增作用

为探讨转染FL和/或TPO基因骨髓基质细胞系对脐血CD34+细胞的体外扩增效应, 建立了转基因骨髓基质细胞系共培养体系. 采用免疫磁珠法分离人脐血CD34+细胞, 在CD34+细胞不同体外培养体系中取样测试细胞总数、CD34+细胞百分率和CFC(包括CFU-GM 和BFU-E). 结果表明, 在8种不同组合的培养体系中, 转基因基质细胞共培养体系较无基质液体培养体系对细胞总数, CFC, CD34+细胞均具有明显的扩增效应, 其中以SCF + IL-3 + HFT扩增效果最好, 分别扩增了(893.3±52.1), (74.5±5.2)和15.7倍. CFU-GM和BFU-E在第2周时达扩增高峰, 扩增倍数分别为(78.1±5.5)和(57.0±19.7). LTC-IC测定结果显示, 只有SCF + IL-3 + FL + TPO和SCF + IL-3 + HFT组有LTC-IC的存在, 统计学检验无显著性差异. 上述结果提示, 转基因骨髓基质细胞系可通过细胞间的接触协同其他细胞因子增强对脐血CD34+细胞的体外扩增作用.     

BCL-2反义硫代磷酸寡脱氧核苷酸对原代急性白血病细胞选择性抑制作用

为探讨BCL-2反义硫代磷酸寡脱氧核苷酸(AS-PS-ODN,ASPO)对急性原代白血病细胞和正常或良性血液病骨髓细胞的作用是否存在差别。应用台盼蓝拒染试验测定细胞存活力;用造血祖细胞集落培养:粒—单系祖细胞集落(CFU-GM),多向祖细胞集落(CFU-Mix),后红系祖细胞集落(CFU-E)、前红系祖细胞集落(BFU-E)和白血病祖细胞集落(CFU-AML,CFU-ALL)培养检测细胞增殖能力;免疫细胞化学染色检测细胞BCL-2蛋白表达变化。结果发现(1)正常或良性血液病骨髓细胞经10μmol/L ASPO处理一周,同对照组比较:细胞生长数、CFU-GM、CFU-Mix、CFU-E、BFU-E及BCL-2蛋白表达均无显著差别(P<0.05)。(2)急性原代白血病细胞经5μmol/L ASPO处理一周,同对照组比较:细胞生长数显著减低;CFU-AML或CFU-ALL显著降低(P < 0.05),而CFU-GM明显增高(P< 0.05);对照组BCL-2蛋白表达率为77.92％±22.50％,ASPO组于培养的第3天为54.05％±20.20％(P<0.01)和第6天为55.35％±22.74％(P<0.05)均显著低于对照组。因此认为BCL-2ASPO具有选择性地抑制白血病细胞的增殖和BCL-2蛋白的表达的作用。     

体外培养脐血单个核细胞与CD34+富集细胞

对比MNC和CD34 +富集细胞在SCF +IL 3+IL 6 +FL +Tpo细胞因子组合下的体外扩增特性 ,发现 :CD34 +富集细胞具有很高的扩增潜力 ,在本实验条件下其总细胞持续扩增了 8周 ,扩增倍数达 312 70 9± 86 40 5倍 ;而MNC在培养至第 4周扩增就已呈现下降趋势 ,最大仅扩增了 5 3 3± 6 2倍。对比集落和CD34 +细胞的扩增发现 ,MNC的集落密度和CD34 +细胞含量由第 0天至第 7天有一个上升的过程 ,而CD34 +富集细胞在培养过程中 ,集落密度和CD34 +细胞含量却始终呈下降趋势。在体外培养过程中 ,CD34 +富集细胞的CFU GM和CD34 +细胞最大分别扩增了 185 7± 14 1和 191 7± 188 8倍 ,明显高于MNC的 12 4± 3 2和 5 0 6± 33 2倍 ;而CD34 +富集细胞和MNC的BFU E则只实现了少量扩增 ,分别为 7 2± 5 2和 10 1± 3 4倍。结果显示 ,从CD34 +富集细胞出发扩增造血干 祖细胞 ,可以得到更多的CD34 +细胞和CFU GM集落形成细胞     

脐血造血细胞体外保存及扩增的研究

研究了脐血造血细胞在4℃冰箱保存过程中单核细胞活力、造血性能的变化以及细胞因子种类、组合、不同培养基添加成分对造血细胞扩增的影响。研究表明脐血在4℃冰箱保存应不超过3d;细胞因子组合SCF IL-6 FL TPO扩增CFU—C的效果最佳;培养基体系中添加脐血混合血浆对扩增CFU—C作用明显,脐血混合血浆的最佳浓度为25％。     

不同理化因子对雪莲培养细胞中黄酮类形成的影响

研究了不同理化因子对水母雪莲(Saussurea medusa Maxim)愈伤组织生长及黄酮类化合物生物合成的影响。结果表明,有利于细胞生长及黄酮形成的合适温度为25℃。白光对愈伤组织生长无促进作用,但有利于黄酮的形成。培养基中添加1mg／L NAA和O．2mg／L的KT组合对细胞的生长较有促进作用。5％蔗糖和1％葡萄糖的组合有利于细胞的生长和黄酮的形成。用⁶⁰C0-γ射线辐照愈伤组织,在剂量为4000Gy的条件下,获得一个合成黄酮能力高于原愈伤组织70％的细胞系。用高效液相和紫外分光光度法,测定离体培养光照条件下干细胞总黄酮的含量为3．2％,是暗培养的4．4倍。培养温度25℃时干细胞黄酮的含量为2．02％,分别为20℃,35℃时的5倍和3．2倍。     

造血细胞体外悬浮培养和生物反应器开发

为解决造血细胞的静态培养中由浓度梯度引起的培养不稳定、环境不均一、难放大等问题,首先采用转瓶对脐血单个核细胞进行了悬浮培养研究,结果表明,悬浮培养中总细胞、集落和CD34^＋细胞的扩增都高于静态的方瓶培养。在测试了所用材料生物相容性的基础上,开发了可以控制溶氧和pH的生物反应器,并将其应用到造血细胞的批培养中,结果表明反应器的培养环境均一,可实现较高密度的培养,而且总细胞、集落和CD34^＋细胞的扩增都优于静态培养。大规模的反应器培养有利于解决临床应用中细胞数量不足的问题。     

小鼠胎肝基质细胞造血刺激因子体外生物活性研究

本实验对基质细胞造血刺激因子－１（ＳＨＦ－１）的体外生物活性进行了研究。结果表明,ＳＨＦ－１可刺激小鼠骨髓ＣＦＵ－Ｅ、ＢＦＵ－Ｅ、ＣＦＵ－ＧＭ、ＣＦＵ－Ｍｉｘ集落的形成,它产生的这些广泛造血刺激作用是其自身所具活性的直接影响。正常小鼠骨髓细胞与ＳＨＦ－１在体外孵育４ｈ,其中ＣＦＵ－Ｓ的自杀率可提高约１０％,显示它对造血干细胞也有诱导增殖作用。     

Effects of purified recombinant human interleukin-3 on the growth of human hematopoietic progenitor cells in "long-term" bone marrow culture

Recombinant human interleukin-3 (rhuIL-3) was assessed for its effects on the growth of normal human hematopoietic bone marrow nucleated cells, and on granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) and erythroid (BFU-E) progenitor cells in a liquid culture system which allows for the prolonged growth of these cells in vitro. RhuIL-3, at concentrations of 100 and 500 units/mL, significantly enhanced the numbers of nucleated cells, as well as the numbers of supernatant and adherent CFU-GM and BFU-E growing in tissue culture flasks or dishes over a period of 4 to 6 weeks. The results demonstrated the rhuIL-3 has a stimulating effect on the growth of human marrow cells in prolonged culture. This information is consistent with the effects of rhuIL-3 in short-term marrow colony assays in vitro and with the in vivo actions of recombinant murine IL-3 in mice, and may be of relevance to clinical trials that will be assessing the hematopoietic effects of rhuIL-3 in humans.     

Thy-1 is a differentiation antigen that characterizes immature murine erythroid and myeloid hematopoietic progenitors

To determine the role of Thy-1 antigen in murine hematopoietic differentiation, bone marrow was treated with anti-Thy-1.2 antibody and complement or complement alone. Growth of immature hematopoietic progenitors, erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E), and granulocyte/macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM) was greatly reduced following antibody and complement treatment and was not restored by mitogen-stimulated spleen cell supernatants. In contrast, more mature erythroid and myeloid progenitors, the erythroid colony-forming unit (CFU-E) and the macrophage progenitor stimulated by L-cell-conditioned media (LCM), were spared by anti-Thy-1.2 antibody and complement treatment. Here, to separate the effects of anti-Thy-1.2 antibody treatment on accessory cells from those on progenitors, splenic T cells and thymocytes were added to treated marrow at ratios of up to 200%. Growth of BFU-E and CFU-GM was not restored. To more precisely replace required accessory cells, male complement-treated marrow was cocultured with female anti-Thy-1.2 antibody and complement-treated marrow. Even marrow cells failed to restore female BFU-E and CFU-GM growth. Fluorescent-activated cell sorting (FACS) and immune sheep red cell rosetting with anti-Thy-1.2-labeled marrow were then performed to determine if immature hematopoietic progenitors bear Thy-1.2. These techniques revealed enrichment of BFU-E and CFU-GM in the Thy-1.2-positive fraction, demonstrating the presence of Thy-1.2 on early murine hematopoietic progenitors. CFU-E and CFU-M were present in the Thy-1.2-negative fraction following FACS separation. These data demonstrate that Thy-1.2 is a differentiation antigen, present on at least some murine BFU-E and CFU-GM and lost as they mature to CFU-E and CFU-M.     

Demonstration of a protector effect of interleukin-1 against hematologic toxicity of azidothymidine (AZT)]

3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (Azidothymidine or AZT) has attained wide critical utility in the treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Unfortunately, treatment with AZT is associated with the development of severe hematopoietic toxicity. The AZT sensitivity of marrow progenitors was different with an IC 50 of 10(-8) M and 10(-6) M for respectively BFU-E and CFU-GM/GEMM. Data reported here show that recombinant human interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), a pleiotropic cytokine, was demonstrated to be efficient to protect normal human as well as murine hematopoietic progenitors (CFU-GM, CFU-GEMM and BFU-E) from the toxic effect of AZT. The maximal effect was observed with 30 U/ml (Human cells) or 100 U/ml (murine cells) IL-1 alpha for BFU-E and CFU-GM/GEMM, with a marked effect at 1 U/ml. The results demonstrate that marrow progenitors respond differently to AZT and point out the potential efficacy of IL-1 alpha to enhance the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells treated with growth factors (IL-3, erythropoietin) and to minimize the hematopoietic toxicity associated with AZT treatment.     

Retrovirus-induced feline pure red cell aplasia: the kinetics of erythroid marrow failure

Cats viremic with feline leukemia virus subgroup C (FeLV-C) develop pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) characterized by the loss of detectable late erythroid progenitors (CFU-E) in marrow culture. Normal numbers of early erythroid progenitors (BFU-E) and granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (CFU-GM) remain, suggesting that the maturation of BFU-E to CFU-E is impaired in vivo. We have examined the cell cycle kinetics of BFU-E and their response to hematopoietic growth factor(s) to better characterize erythropoiesis as anemia develops. Within 3 weeks of FeLV-C infection, yet 6-42 weeks before anemia, the traction of BFU-E in DNA synthesis as determined by tritiated thymidine suicide increased to 43 +/- 4% (normal 23 +/- 2%) while there was no change in the cell cycle kinetics of CFU-GM. In additional studies, we evaluated the response of marrow to the hematopoietic growth factor(s) present in medium conditioned by FeLV-infected feline embryonic fibroblasts (FEA/FeLV CM). With cells from normal cats or cats viremic with FeLV-C but not anemic, a 4-fold increase in erythroid bursts was seen in cultures with 5% FEA/FeLV CM when compared to cultures without CM. However, just prior to the onset of anemia, when the numbers of detectable CFU-E decreased, BFU-E no longer responded to FEA/FeLV CM in vitro. BFU-E from anemic cats also required 10% cat or human serum for optimal in vitro growth. These altered kinetics and in vitro growth characteristics may relate to the in vivo block of BFU-E differentiation and PRCA. Finally, when marrow from cats with PRCA was placed in suspension culture for 2 to 4 days in the presence of cat serum and CM, the numbers of BFU-E increased 2- to 4-fold although no CFU-E were generated. By 4 to 7 days, CFU-E were detected, suggesting that conditions contributing to the block of erythroid maturation did not persist. The suspension culture technique provides an approach to study further the defect in erythroid differentiation characteristic of feline PRCA.     

Stimulation of in vitro hematopoiesis by a murine fetal hepatocyte clone through cell—cell contact

We have previously shown that a fetal liver-derived epithelial cell clone, FHC-4D2, could support hematopoiesis in vitro through its colony-stimulating factor (CSF) activities in a short-term culture. In this study, since FHC-4D2 cells were found capable of maintaining hematopoietic progenitors in the coculture for a long time, we examined how FHC-4D2 could exert hematopoietic supporting activity in a long-term culture by coculturing adult bone marrow (BM) cells or fetal liver (FL) cells on a monolayer of FHC-4D2 cells. This clone could maintain the colony-forming unit of granulocytes and macrophages (CFU-GM) of BM for ≥ 12 weeks under the coculture condition, but the fibroblastic cell clone from the fetal liver, FHC-4A3, could not support the survival of CFU-GM, even for 1 week. In addition to BM CFU-GM, the FHC-4D2 clone also supported the survival of FL CFU-GM, burst-forming unit of erythroid cells (BFUe), and colony-forming unit of mixed progenitors (CFU-Mix) for longer than 4 weeks. When BM cells were separated by a membrane filter from the FHC-4D2 cells in the coculture, the comparable number of CFU-GM was maintained at day 3, but virtually no hematopoietic progenitors were detected at the end of the first week. CFU-GM were present in both nonadherent and adherent cells to the FHC-4D2 cells at day 3 of the coculture, but at day 7, the adherent population contained greater number of CFU-GM. CFU-GM derived from the adherent cells formed larger colonies and contained more bipotential CFU-GM than the nonadherent population. When BM cells from mice given 5-fluorouracil were cocultured with FHC-4D2 cells under the limiting dilution condition, interleukin-3 (IL-3)-responsive CFU-GM were induced from immature hematopoietic progenitor cells that were otherwise unresponsive to IL-3. From these data we conclude that the FHC-4D2 clone could generate and maintain IL-3-responsive hematopoietic progenitors via close contact and that, in the fetal liver, the contact between hepatocytes and hematopoietic cells may be critically important in inducing the differentiation of resting, IL-3-unresponsive immature hematopoietic cells into CFU-GM (progenitors responsive to IL-3) and in triggering the self-renewal of CFU-GM. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Differential proliferative effects of transforming growth factor-beta on human hematopoietic progenitor cells

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) regulates cell growth and differentiation in numerous cell systems, including several hematopoietic lineages. We used in vitro cultures of highly enriched hematopoietic progenitor cells stimulated by natural and recombinant growth factors to investigate the biologic effects of TGF beta 1 and TGF beta 2 on erythroid (CFU-E and burst-forming unit (BFU)-E), granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) and multilineage (i.e., granulocyte, erythroid, macrophage, and megakaryocyte; CFU-GEMM) colony-forming cells. In the absence of exogenous CSF, neither TGF beta 1 nor TGF beta 2 supported progenitor cell growth. In the presence of recombinant or natural CSF, picomolar concentrations of TGF beta 1 inhibited growth of CFU-E, BFU-E, and CFU-GEMM and enhanced growth of day 7 CFU-GM. Inhibition of CFU-E and BFU-E by human and porcine TGF beta 1 was similar, ranging from 17 to 73% over a concentration range of 0.05 to 1.0 ng/ml, and was largely independent of the type of burst-promoting activity used (rIL-3 vs cell line 5637-conditioned medium). Inhibition of CFU-GEMM ranged from 79 to 98% over a concentration range of 0.25 to 1.0 ng/ml. The inhibitory effect of TGF beta 1 was progressively lost when its addition was delayed for 40 to 120 h, suggesting a mode of action during early cell divisions. In contrast, growth of CFU-GM stimulated by plateau concentrations of human rG-CSF, rGM-CSF, and rIL-3 was enhanced up to 154 +/- 22% by human TGF beta 1. Porcine platelet-derived TGF beta 2 was essentially without effect on the progenitor populations examined. These results support the hypothesis that TGF beta may play role in the regulation of hematopoietic progenitor cell proliferation by differentially affecting individual lineages and is apparently capable of doing so in the relative absence of marrow accessory cells.     

Human thymic epithelial cells produce granulocyte and macrophage colony-stimulating factors

The development of culture conditions for growing normal human thymic epithelial (TE) cells free from contamination with other stromal cells has allowed us to identify and characterize TE cell-derived cytokines. In this study, we report that cultured human TE cells produced CSF that supported the growth of clonal hematopoietic progenitor cells in the light density fraction of human bone marrow cells. Thymic epithelial supernatants (TES) induced growth of granulocyte/macrophage colonies (CFU-GM), mixed granulocyte/erythrocyte/monocyte/megakaryocyte colonies (CFU-GEMM), and early burst-forming unit erythroid colonies (BFU-E). In addition, TES induced differentiation of the promyelocyte leukemic cell line HL-60 and stimulated growth of both granulocyte (CFU-G) and monocyte (CFU-M) colonies from murine bone marrow cells. Using anion exchange column chromatography, pluripotent CSF activities in TES were separated and shown to be distinct from an IL-1-like cytokine that has been shown as a TE cell-derived cytokine (TE-IL-1). Colony-stimulating activity supporting the growth of bone marrow CFU-GEMM, BFU-E, and CFU-GM co-eluted at 150 to 180 mM NaCl. A separate peak of CFU-GM-stimulating activity eluted early in the gradient at 20 mM NaCl. In Northern blot analysis of enriched RNA, synthetic oligonucleotide probes complementary to human G-CSF and M-CSF coding sequence each hybridized with a single RNA species of 1.7 and 4.4 kb, respectively. These data suggest that normal human TE cells synthesize G-CSF and M-CSF that promote differentiation of non-lymphoid hematopoietic cell precursors.     

Development of a fixed bed bioreactor for the expansion of human hematopoietic progenitor cells

The ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells is of great interest for a variety of clinical applications, e.g. bone marrow transplantation or gene therapy. Therefore it is of general interest to develop a culture system, able to mimic the in vivo hematopoesis, which is a prerequisite for long-term hematopoietic culture. Our approach was to modify a continuously perfused bioreactor for cultivation and expansion of human hematopoietic stem cells. Therefore we immobilized stromal cells (human primary stromal cells or the murine cell line M2-10B4) in porous glass carriers in a fixed bed reactor and cocultivated human hematopoietic progenitor cells for several weeks. After inoculation of mononuclear cells derived from umbilical cord blood or peripheral blood stem cells both adherent and non adherent cells were harvested and analyzed by flow cytometry and short-term colony assays. During cultivation there was a permanent production of progenitor cells and mature blood cells derived from the immobilized cells in the carriers. We could demonstrate the immobilization of hematopoietic progenitor cells of the myeloid system detectable in short-term colony assays. Additionally we could observe the expansion of very early progenitor cells (CFU-GEMM) up to 4.2-fold and later progenitor cells (CFU-GM and BFU-E) up to 7-fold and 1.8-fold, respectively. P.M. and B.S. contributed equal parts to this work. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.