Abstract
Abstract Successful cord blood (CB) transplantation in adults is hampered by low numbers of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and infection due to delayed establishment of immunocompetence. By performing CDR3 spectratype analysis of T and B lymphocytes from CB transplant recipients, we demonstrated that these patients do not develop a diverse repertoire until 6 months or more after transplant. To provide rapidly engrafting antigen-responsive cells to CB recipients and to increase the number of transplanted cells, we developed an in vitro system to expand lymphoid progenitors from CB HSC. CB HSC (CD34+CD45RA+CD38-) are co-cultured for one to two weeks with either HEK 293T cells or a non-tumorigenic human thymic epithelial cell line (TEC) in media supplemented with a cocktail of cytokines and growth factors. In this study, we focused on B-lineage cells (CD79a+) and found, on average, B-lineage cells expanded more than 70 fold in HEK 293T co-cultures and nearly 100 fold in TEC co-cultures. We conclude that B-lineage cells can be expanded effectively in vitro; consequently, we are testing whether these cells are functional after engraftment in NOD/SCID/IL2Rγ-/- mice. We hypothesize that compared to patients receiving HSC alone, patients receiving transplants supplemented with in vitro-generated lymphoid progenitors will become immunocompetent sooner. Funding by NIH AI068390 (KLK) and AG023809 (PTL)
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
