Scientific Journal of

  Abstract

 Background and Objectives

 Umbilical cord blood (CB) has been identified both as a rich source for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and as an alternative to bone marrow transplantation. To accelerate the pace of engraftment in cord blood (CB) transplantation, HSCs should be ex vivo expanded. So the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP1- a ) on ex vivo expansion of HSCs and its role in prevention of HSCs differentiation in different conditions.

 Materials and Methods

 Mononuclear cells (MNCs) were seperated from cord blood and cultured in RPMI 1640 with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) or 10% cord blood plasma (CBP) or serum free media (SF). Culture media contained 50 ng/ml of interlukin 6 (IL-6), interlukin 3 (IL-3),

 thrombopoietin (TPO), stem cell factor (SCF), and flt3-ligand. MNCs were cultured for 2 weeks in the presence or absence of MIP1- a in CO₂ incubator expansion potential was then studied by MNCs counting and flowcytometry for CD34⁺/CD38^- cells in 7 and 14 days.

 Results

 In all MIP1- a contained media, more increase in expansion of CD34⁺/CD38^- and CD34⁺ cells was observed.

 Conclusions

 These results suggest that the effect of MIP1- a depends on type of medium and the cytokines present in the culture it also shows that addition of MIP1- a is useful for clinically ex vivo expansion of cord blood-derived progenitor cells.

 Key words : MIP1- a , Cord blood, Ex vivo expansion, Hematopoietic progenitor cells