Natural killer cell differentiation from hematopoietic stem cells: a comparative analysis of heparin- and stromal cell-supported methods.

ABSTRACT: Natural killer (NK) cells differentiated from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) may have significant clinical benefits over NK cells from adult donors, including the ability to choose alloreactive donors and potentially more robust in vivo expansion. Stromal-based methods have been used to study the differentiation of NK cells from HSCs. Stroma and cytokines support NK cell differentiation, but may face considerable regulatory hurdles. A recently reported clinical-grade, heparin-based method could serve as an alternative. How the stromal-based and heparin-based approaches compare in terms of NK cell generating efficiency or function is unknown. We show that compared with heparin-based cultures, stroma significantly increases the yield of HSC-derived NK cells by differentiating less-committed

SUBMITTER: Dezell SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3303970 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature