Supporting Effect of Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells on CD34+ Cell Proliferation and Its Mechanism / 中国实验血液学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the ability of UCB-derived MSCs to support the expansion of HSCs ex vivo and the possible mechanisms involved in this process.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>HSCs from UCB were co-cultured with UCB-derived MSCs for 14 days, and then the total number of HSCs and colony-forming units (CFU) were detected. Cytokines levels of MSCs supernatant were analyzed using ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The proliferation rate of HSCs co-cultured with MSCs was significantly higher than that of cultured HSCs alone (P<0.05). Furthermore, the addition of exogenous cytokines to the culture system significantly increased the proliferation rate of HSCs (P<0.05). MSCs had secretion of many cytokines, including GM-CSF, IL-7, IL-8, IL-11, SCF and SDF-1α.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>UCB-derived MSCs as a feeder layer can be an alternative approach for ex vivo expansion of HSCs, and the cytokines by secreted UCB-MSCs may mediate the supportive role of MSC to HSC proliferation.</p>