A novel high-yield volume-reduction method for the cryopreservation of UC blood units

Arsenic Primes Human Bone Marrow CD34+ Cells for Erythroid Differentiation

Arsenic trioxide exhibits therapeutic effects on certain blood malignancies, at least partly by modulating cell differentiation. Previous in vitro studies in human hematopoietic progenitor cells have suggested that arsenic may inhibit erythroid differentiation. However, these effects were all observed in the presence of arsenic compounds, while the concomitant cytostatic and cytotoxic actions of arsenic might mask a prodifferentiating activity. To eliminate the potential impacts of the cytostatic and cytotoxic actions of arsenic, we adopted a novel protocol by pretreating human bone marrow CD34+ cells with a low, noncytotoxic concentration of arsenic trioxide, followed by assaying the colony forming activities in the absence of the arsenic compound. Bone marrow specimens were obtained from chronic myeloid leukemia patients who achieved complete cytogenetic remission. CD34+ cells were isolated by magnetic-activated cell sorting. We discovered that arsenic trioxide enhanced the erythroid colony forming activity, which was accompanied by a decrease in the granulomonocytic differentiation function. Moreover, in erythroleukemic K562 cells, we showed that arsenic trioxide inhibited erythrocyte maturation, suggesting that arsenic might have biphasic effects on erythropoiesis. In conclusion, our data provided the first evidence showing that arsenic trioxide could prime human hematopoietic progenitor cells for enhanced erythroid differentiation.

A novel cell therapy for stress urinary incontinence, short-term outcome

AIMS

The aim of this study was the safety assessment of urethra injections of autologous total nucleated cells (TNCs) along with platelets, which focused on the outcome over a 6 month period.

METHODS

An open, prospective study was conducted on 9 patients with severe stress urinary incontinence (SUI). At the baseline, 1, 3, and 6 months after external urethral sphincteric and submucosal injections of autologous TNCs along with platelets, the patients were assessed according to cough tests, Q-Tip tests, urodynamics, 1 hr pad tests, upper tract ultrasonography (UTU), post voiding residue (PVR), International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary incontinence (ICIQ-UI), and International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire-Quality of Life (ICIQ-QOL). On the 3rd month post-injection, the maximum urethral closure pressure (MUCP) and abdominal leak point pressure (ALPP) were measured in one patient with intrinsic sphincteric deficiency (ISD; the baseline: ALPP < 60 and MUCP < 30 cmH(2)O).

RESULTS

No complications were observed after injection. At 6-months' follow up (F/U), all the patients considered themselves clinically cured with eight women completely continent and one marked improvement. Mean age was 48.9 ± 13.8 years. Before the injection, urodynamics, UTU, and PVR were normal and cough tests, 1 hr pad tests were positive in patients. At 1, 3, and 6 months post-injection, there was a significant improvement in ICIQ-UI, ICIQ-QOL (P < 0.05). UTU and PVR were normal, cough tests, and 1 hr pad tests were negative, except for ISD patient with severe coughs (at month 3: ALPP = 92 and MUCP > 30 cmH(2)O).

CONCLUSION

Cell therapy consisting of intrasphincteric and submucosal injections of autologous TNCs along with platelets in SUI patients is a feasible and safe procedure. The results point out those subjects cured or with marked improvement after 6 months F/U.

Evaluation of volume and total nucleated cell count as cord blood selection parameters: a receiver operating characteristic curve modeling approach

The objective of the study was to evaluate the current standard practice of using volume and total nucleated cell (TNC) count for the selection of cord blood (CB) units for cryopreservation and further transplantation. Data on 794 CB units whose CD34+ cell content was determined by flow cytometry were analyzed by using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve model to validate the performance of volume and TNC count for the selection of CB units with grafting purposes. The TNC count was the best parameter to identify CB units having 2 × 10(6) or more CD34+ cells, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.828 (95% confidence interval, 0.800-0.856; P < .01) and an efficiency of 75.4%. Combination of parameters (TNC/mononuclear cells [MNCs], efficiency 74.7%; TNC/volume, efficiency 68.9%; and volume/MNCs, efficiency 68.3%) did not lead to improvement in CB selection. All CB units having a TNC count of 8 × 10(8) or more had the required CD34+ cell dose for patients weighing 10 kg or less.

Processing of hematopoietic stem cells from peripheral blood before cryopreservation: use of a closed automated system

BACKGROUND

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is commonly used to treat several oncohematologic diseases. The autologous hematopoietic progenitor cells collected through apheresis (HPC-A) must be cryopreserved and stored before use in vivo. Cell processing that precedes cryopreservation of HPC-A includes volume reduction aimed at reducing the amount of dimethyl sulfoxide used, as well as storage space.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

The aim of our study was to assess the effectiveness of volume reduction performed with an automated closed system, namely, the Sepax S100 cell separation device (Biosafe SA). A total of 165 procedures were carried out on concentrates collected from 104 adult and pediatric patients. As a control group, 30 HPC-A units processed according to the standard method (i.e., centrifugation at a speed of 850 × g for 10 minutes, followed by manual plasma reduction) were evaluated.

RESULTS

The volume reduction obtained was 59% (range, 20.54%-84.21%; standard deviation [SD], ± 12.19%), going from 236 mL (range, 100-443 mL; SD, ± 80.41 mL) to 97 mL (range, 33.00-263.00 mL; SD, ± 47.41 mL); recovery of nucleated cells was 90% (range, 64.84%-105.93%; SD, ± 8.76%), while that of CD34+ cells was 91% (range, 59.30%-119.37%; SD, ± 13.30%). These values did not differ from those obtained using the standard method. Automated processing required 20 minutes versus 40 minutes of manual processing.

DISCUSSION

Our data demonstrate that volume reduction carried out with the Sepax S100 automated system was particularly effective; cell recovery was excellent and the time spent was short. Moreover, the closed system allows cell processing to be carried out in a contamination-controlled environment, in accordance with good manufacturing practice guidelines.

Placenta perfusion has hematopoietic and mesenchymal progenitor stem cell potential

BACKGROUND

Placenta is a valuable source of stem cells for cell therapy and future application in the field of regenerative medicine. This is due to the plasticity and the immunomodulatory effects of the stem cells that it contains. In this study we present a totally closed method for hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic stem cell isolation from human term placenta.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Sixty-eight placenta units were collected and manipulated for the residual fetal blood drainage. After delivery, placenta flushing with citrate-phosphate-dextrose-adenine was evaluated.

RESULTS

Placenta flushing using a totally closed system led to a significant amount of hematopoietic progenitor cells and multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) without additional microbial risk, free of maternal cell contamination.

CONCLUSION

Traditionally discarded after childbirth, the term placenta now appears to be an easily accessible and abundant source of diverse origin stem cells suitable for banking strategies and for future clinical applications, including adult therapy.

Treatment of non-healing wounds with autologous bone marrow cells, platelets, fibrin glue and collagen matrix

BACKGROUND AIMS

Recalcitrant diabetic wounds are not responsive to the most common treatments. Bone marrow-derived stem cell transplantation is used for the healing of chronic lower extremity wounds.

METHODS

We report on the treatment of eight patients with aggressive, refractory diabetic wounds. The marrow-derived cells were injected/applied topically into the wound along with platelets, fibrin glue and bone marrow-impregnated collagen matrix.

RESULTS

Four weeks after treatment, the wound was completely closed in three patients and significantly reduced in the remaining five patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study suggests that the combination of the components mentioned can be used safely in order to synergize the effect of chronic wound healing.

Quality of long-term cryopreserved umbilical cord blood units for hematopoietic cell transplantation

The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of long-term cryopreserved umbilical cord blood (CB) units for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The recovery of the number of total nucleated cell (TNC), hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs; CD34+ cells, colony-forming units-granulocyte/macrophages [CFU-GMs]), and the percentage of viable cells, CD34+ CD38- cells, and CD34+ CXCR4+ cells of CB units cryopreserved for 10 years for HCT were examined. Eighteen CB units cryopreserved for 10 years (as the study group) and for 1 month (as the control group), respectively, were analyzed. The recovery rate of TNC, CD34+ cells and CFU-GMs were 88.72 ± 16.40, 68.39 ± 18.37 and 42.28 ± 38.16% for the study group and 80.17 ± 14.46, 72.67 ± 20.38 and 49.61 ± 36.39% for the control group (p = 0.106, p = 0.513 and p = 0.559, respectively). There were no significant differences in the recovery rate of TNC, CD34+ cells and CFU-GMs between the study group and the control group. The mean basal percentage of viable cells, CD34+ CD38- cells, and CD34+ CXCR4+ cells after thawing were 83.69 ± 9.45, 9.11 ± 4.13 and 81.65 ± 10.82% for the study group. These results indicate that long-term cryopreservation does not negatively affect the quality of CB units for HCT.

Addition of adipose-derived stem cells in cord blood cultures stimulates their pluripotent differentiation

INTRODUCTION

Adipose tissue is recognized as an important source of postnatal mesenchymal stem cells for generative medicine applications. Moreover, cord blood stem cells have been shown to contain pluripotent stem cells called unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSCs). However, this population is rare and cannot be generated from every cord blood sample. In this study, we have presented a new method of co-culture of adipose-derived stem cells (ADPCs) and cord blood stem cells that results in pluripotent differentiation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

ADPCs were obtained from a piece of adipose tissue after treatment with 0.075% collagenase, which was subsequently inactivated with DMEM/10% FBS. The cellular pellet of centrifugation was plated at 5-7 x 10(6) cells/mL in T25 culture flasks in a low-glycose DMEM with 30% FCS. Cord blood stem cells were obtained by centrifugation following double-processing in the presence of 2% HES 200/0.5 and plated at 5-7 x 10(6) cells/mL in the same medium. To investigate the crucial role of ADPCs in pluripotent cord blood differentiation, we added a ADPCS as (1 x 10(4) cells/mL) to the cord blood cultures and analyzed the contribution of ADPCs using a microscope as well as with flow cytometry.

RESULTS

After only 3 days, adherent cells (USSC colonies) of fibroblastic morphology were detected in all co-cultured samples, whereas this was observed later or not at all in the non-co-cultured samples. The greater density of colonies in the co-coltured samples was another point. Hematopoietic CD45 cells were no longer detected after the first passage. Pluripotent stem cells were obtained from all co-cultured samples that contained stem cells positive for CD29, CD44, CD49e, CD90, CD105, CD51 Stro, and C-kit antibodies but negative for CD34, CD45, CD133, and glycophorin A.

CONCLUSION

Addition of ADPCs was crucial to generate pluripotent-derived stem cells from cord blood samples. This double culture may be a useful tool for a universal allogeneic stem cell source for tissue repair or regeneration.

Optimization of cryopreservation condition for hematopoietic stem cells from umbilical cord blood

The conditions for cryopreservation of CD34(+) hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) from umbilical cord blood (UCB) were optimized with a new cryo-medium containing 10% ethylene glycol (EG) and 2% dimethyl sulfoxide (Me(2)SO) using a controlled-rate freezing (CRF) method. After the cryopreservation of mononuclear cells (MNC) from UCB, recoveries of MNC, CD34(+) cells, and total colony-forming units (CFU) were significantly improved compared to those in the control cryo-medium containing 10% Me(2)SO and 2% Dextran-40 (P<0.05). This study shows that the new cryo-medium and CRF method provide better recoveries of MNC, HSC and total CFU than the control cryo-medium and isopropylalcohol freezing (IPA) method. Therefore, this cryo-medium, combined with the CRF method, is valuable for optimizing cryopreservation conditions for HSC from UCB to obtain satisfactory HSC recovery.