Peters
Fakultäten » Medizinische Fakultät » Onkologie, Klinik für » Prof. Dr. Alexander Knuth » Peters
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Expansion of umbilical cord blood cells (UCB) as a source of haematopoietic stem cells (HSC) for adult transplantation | ||||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Many patients who might benefit from a blood stem cell or bone marrow transplant do not have an appropriate donor. For children who do not have an available donor, umbilical cord blood (UCB) can be used as a source of blood stem cells for transplantation. In adults, UCB transplantation is usually not used because of the limited number of stem cells that are present. To overcome this barrier, we have developed the technology to grow UCB cells in the laboratory. We were able to significantly increase the number of blood stem cells in 13 from previous work and 3 UCB samples at the present, with the use of novel growth conditions. The cells continued to grow for >7 months with robust increases in both the total number of cells and the number of special blood stem cells that are very important for transplantation. The cells grown in the laboratory were successfully used in a mouse model of transplantation. This system is now being up scaled and dveloped for use in human transplantation. This application proposes translational studies intended to evaluate the safety and efficacy of UCB expansion for use in adult patients. Additional studies: a) We are also able to expand another type of stem cells called mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) that are capble of producing different types of tissue such as bone, cartilage, adipocyte, neural and liver cells. In our hands, MSC had the capacity to differentiate into liver stem cells (hepatocytes) as indicated by their appearance and the expression of specific proteins such as albumin, as well as two hepatocyte-specific bile salt transport proteins. At the present the technology to generate and expand MSC is being thoroughly developed to overcome the limitation that has been reported in the literature in that, only (20%) of UCB units can generate MSC. We will analyze the in vivo engraftment characteristics of derived UCB hepatocytes as a possible therapeutic option. The research in this area has great potential to future application in patients with end-stage liver disease. b) We are also developing culture techniques to increase the growth of cancer stem cells (CSC) from established cancer cell lines in order to learn more about cancer. Our preliminary data show that some of the cultures tested allowed long- term and gradual expansion of CSC. Percentage of CSC increased to 22% after 10 weeks on the bench as compared to control cells (0.5 %). The cells were able to grow into colonies. The tumorigenic potential of CSC will be tested upon transplantation in to a mouse model of transplantation. |
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| Publications / Publikationen | Hepatocyte transplantation: potential of hepatocyte progenitor cells and bone marrow derived stem cells. Stieger B, Peters R, Sidler MA, Meier PJ. Swiss Med Wkly. 2006; 136: 552-6. |
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| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Umbilical cord blood, Blood stem cells, Mesenchymal stem cells, Cancer stem cells | ||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
Others SFO |
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| In collaboration with / In Zusammenarbeit mit |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | May 2006 to Dec 2008 |