Abstract

 Background and Objectives

 Umblical cord blood (UCB) hematopoietic stem cells having high cell counts are suitable candidates for benign and malignant disease transplantation but often UCBs have low counts. In this study, ex vivo expansion of these cells was performed using suspension bioreactor with vertical agitation.

 Materials and Methods

 UCB Mononuclear cells were cultured with 1.07 × 10⁶ cells/ml density in total 206 ml of culture medium in the suspension bioreactor with vertical agitator and the static group with same density was cultured in T-flasks for 14 days. At the days 0, 3, 7 and 14 of culture, sampling was performed for further analysis.

 Results

 During the 3 days of culture, differentiated cells were lost and then the number of cells increased again from 0.42 × 10⁶ cells/ml up to 1.2 × 10⁶ cells/ml and from 0.6 × 10⁶ up to 2.9 × 10⁶ in bioreactor and static culture, respectively. The percentage of CD34⁺ cells and colony forming potential significantly increased in bioreactor.

 Conclusions

 Hematopoietic stem cells in the bioreactor while retaining their self-potential are expanded. However, due to the increasing shear stress in the environment, the total number of cells did not increase. Therefore, further studies are required.