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Hematopoietic Niche – Exploring Biomimetic Cues to Improve the Functionality of Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells

2017; Wiley; Volume: 13; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/biot.201700088

1860-7314

Marta Costa, António M. de Soure, Joaquim M. S. Cabral, Frederico Castelo Ferreira, Cláudia L. da Silva,

Neonatal Respiratory Health Research

The adult bone marrow (BM) niche is a complex entity where a homeostatic hematopoietic system is maintained through a dynamic crosstalk between different cellular and non‐cellular players. Signaling mechanisms triggered by cell‐cell, cell‐extracellular matrix (ECM), cell‐cytokine interactions, and local microenvironment parameters are involved in controlling quiescence, self‐renewal, differentiation, and migration of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC). A promising strategy to more efficiently expand HSPC numbers and tune their properties ex vivo is to mimic the hematopoietic niche through integration of adjuvant stromal cells, soluble cues, and/or biomaterial‐based approaches in HSPC culture systems. Particularly, mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC), through their paracrine activity or direct contact with HSPC, are thought to be a relevant niche player, positioning HSPC‐MSC co‐culture as a valuable platform to support the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic progenitors. To improve the clinical outcome of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), namely when the available HSPC are present in a limited number such is the case of HSPC collected from umbilical cord blood (UCB), ex vivo expansion of HSPC is required without eliminating the long‐term repopulating capacity of more primitive HSC. Here, we will focus on depicting the characteristics of co‐culture systems, as well as other bioengineering approaches to improve the functionality of HSPC ex vivo.