Ex vivo haematopoietic stem cell expansion technologies

Self-renewing multipotent haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are a rare bone marrow cell type that can reconstitute the entire blood and immune systems following transplantation. HSC transplantation is used clinically as a curative therapy for a range of blood diseases. However, despite clinical importance of this cell type, it has long been challenging to expand HSCs ex vivo. We recently developed a novel polymer-based long-term ex vivo expansion culture system for mouse HSCs. I will discuss recent improvements in this technology as well as its application to investigate the biological mechanisms regulating HSC activity.