Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Support the Expansion of Cord Blood-derived CD34⁺ Cells Mimicking a Hematopoietic Niche in a Direct Cell-cell Contact Culture System.

ABSTRACT: Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stromal cells (WJ-MSCs) have been recently exploited as a feeder layer in coculture systems to expand umbilical cord blood-hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (UCB-HSPCs). Here, we investigated the role of WJ-MSCs in supporting ex vivo UCB-HSPC expansion either when cultured in direct contact (DC) with WJ-MSCs or separated by a transwell system or in the presence of WJ-MSC-conditioned medium. We found, in short-term culture, a greater degree of expansion of UCB-CD34⁺ cells in a DC system (15.7 ± 4.1-fold increase) with respect to the other conditions. Moreover, in DC, we evidenced two different CD34⁺ cell populations (one floating and one adherent to WJ-MSCs) with different phenotypic and functional characteristics. Both multipotent CD34

SUBMITTER: Lo Iacono M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6434478 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature