Abstract: To examine the effects of co-culture with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on expansion of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and the capacities of rapid neutrophil engraftment and hematopoietic reconstitution of the expanded cells, we expanded mononuclear cells (MNCs) and CD34⁺/c-kit⁺ cells from mouse bone marrow and transplanted the expanded cells into the irradiated mice. MNCs were isolated from mouse bone marrow and CD34⁺/c-kit⁺ cells were selected from MNCs by using MoFlo Cell Sorter. MNCs and CD34⁺/c-kit⁺ cells were co-cultured with mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) under a two-step expansion. The expanded cells were then transplanted into sublethally irradiated BDF1 mice. Results showed that the co-culture with MSCs resulted in expansions of median total nucleated cells, CD34⁺ cells, GM-CFC and HPP-CFC respectively by 10.8-, 4.8-, 65.9- and 38.8-fold for the mononuclear cell culture, and respectively by 76.1-, 2.9-, 71.7- and 51.8-fold for the CD34⁺/c-kit⁺ cell culture. The expanded cells could rapidly engraft in the sublethally irradiated mice and reconstitute their hematopoiesis. Co-cultures with MSCs in conjunction with two-step expansion increased expansions of total nucleated cells, GM-CFC and HPP-CFC, which led us to conclude MSCs may create favorable environment for expansions of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. The availability of increased numbers of expanded cells by the co-culture with MSCs may result in more rapid engraftment of neutrophils following infusion to transplant recipients.

Key words: Hematopoietic stem cells, Mesenchymal stem cells, Expansion, Transplantation

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