EXPANSION OF CD34+ HUMAN HEMATOPOIETIC CELLS FROM UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD USING ROLLER BOTTLES

Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is limited by the initial CD34(+) cell content in cord blood units; the aim of this work was the in vitro expansion of HSC to overcome this issue. Supplemented IMDM roller bottle cultures of CD34(+) cells from human umbilical cord blood were established for hematopoietic progenitor expansion. The maximum total colony forming cells (CFC) expansion was achieved after 5 days of culture, being 16.94 +/- 2.82 folds in roller bottles and 17.28 +/- 4.47 in static cultures. However, the maximum total cell fold expansion was attained after 10 days of culture. It was of 20.31 +/- 6.18 for the roller bottles and 26.45 +/- 9.89 for the static cultures. The efficacy of the roller bottles system for short-term cultures of CD34(+) cells and expanding hematopoietic progenitors in IMDM was demonstrated; encouraging the use of this culture system for other experiments and may be used for future clinical applications.