Avoidance of stimulation improves engraftment of cultured and retrovirally transduced hematopoietic cells in primates

Recent reports suggest that cells in active cell cycle have an engraftment defect compared with quiescent cells. We used nonhuman primates to investigate this finding, which has direct implications for clinical transplantation and gene therapy applications. Transfer of rhesus CD34(+) cells to culture in stem cell factor (SCF) on the CH-296 fibronectin fragment (FN) after 4 days of culture in stimulatory cytokines maintained cell viability but decreased cycling. Using retroviral marking with two different gene transfer vectors, we compared the engraftment potential of cytokine-stimulated cells versus those transferred to nonstimulatory conditions (SCF on FN alone) before reinfusion. In vivo competitive repopulation studies showed that the level of marking originating from the cells continued in culture for 2 days with SCF on FN following a 4-day stimulatory transduction was significantly higher than the level of marking coming from cells transduced for 4 days and reinfused without the 2-day culture under nonstimulatory conditions. We observed stable in vivo overall gene marking levels of up to 29%. This approach may allow more efficient engraftment of transduced or ex vivo expanded cells by avoiding active cell cycling at the time of reinfusion.     

Efficient retrovirus-mediated transduction of primitive human peripheral blood progenitor cells in stroma-free suspension culture.

Retroviral transduction of hematopoietic cells has resulted in unsatisfactory gene marking in clinical studies. Since cytokine-stimulated stem cells have engrafted poorly in animal models, we investigated phenotypic changes during culture of peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC). Human CD34(+) HLA-DR(low) cells, immunomagnetically separated from PBPC collections, were found to extrude rhodamine-123, which is characteristic for primitive hematopoietic cells. Cells were grown in suspension cultures supplemented with cytokines. While interleukin-3-containing factor combinations promoted cell proliferation they caused loss of rhodamine-123 extrusion and reduced the frequencies of cobblestone area-forming cells (CAFC). Several other cytokines failed to stimulate cell divisions, which are required for retroviral transduction. A combination including Flt-3 ligand (FL), interleukin-6 and stem cell factor (SCF) preserved an immature phenotype for 5 to 6 days and stimulated cell divisions, which was improved upon addition of leukemia inhibitory factor and interleukin-11. Furthermore, the CAFC frequency among cells treated with these cytokines was increased as compared with widely used cocktails containing interleukin-3, interleukin-6 and SCF. Rhodamine-123 appeared to be a particularly sensitive indicator for differentiation of PBPC. For analysis of gene transfer, amphotropic retroviruses conferring an MDR1 cDNA were added repeatedly for 6 days to cytokine-treated PBPC stroma-free cultures. Proviral cDNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction in 68% of cobblestone areas derived from CD34(+)HLA-DR(low) cells that had been exposed to Flt-3 ligand, interleukin-6 and SCF. In summary, conditions were identified that facilitate efficient transduction of early PBPC with amphotropic retroviruses while preserving a primitive phenotype for extended periods.     

Efficient human immunodeficiency virus-based vector transduction of unstimulated human mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ cells in the SCID-hu Thy/Liv model of human T cell lymphopoiesis

The methods available to efficiently transduce human CD34(+) hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) derived from mobilized peripheral blood, such that they fully retain their engraftment potential and maintain high levels of transgene expression in vivo, have been unsatisfactory. The current murine retrovirus-based gene transfer systems require dividing cells for efficient transduction, and therefore the target HSCs must be activated ex vivo by cytokines to cycle, which may limit their engrafting ability. Lentivirus-based gene transfer systems do not require cell division and, thus, may allow for efficient gene transfer to human HSCs in the absence of any ex vivo cytokine stimulation. We constructed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-based vectors and compared them in vitro and in vivo with MuLV-based vectors in their ability to transduce unstimulated human CD34(+) HSCs isolated from mobilized peripheral blood. Both sets of vectors contained the marker gene that expresses the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) for evaluating transduction efficiency and were pseudotyped with either vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) or the amphotropic murine leukemia virus envelope (A-MULV Env). The VSV-G-pseudotyped HIV-based vectors containing an internal mouse phosphoglycerate kinase promoter (PGK) were able to transduce up to 48% of the unstimulated CD34(+) cells as measured by EGFP expression. When these cells were injected into the human fetal thymus implants of irradiated SCID-hu Thy/Liv mice, up to 18% expressed EGFP after 8 weeks in vivo. In contrast, the MULV-based vectors were effective at transducing HSCs only in the presence of cytokines. Our results demonstrate that the improved HIV-based gene transfer system can effectively transduce unstimulated human CD34(+) HSCs, which can then differentiate into thymocytes and provide long-term transgene expression in vivo.     

Prolonged High-Level Detection of Retrovirally Marked Hematopoietic Cells in Nonhuman Primates after Transduction of CD34+ Progenitors Using Clinically Feasible Methods

Low-level retroviral transduction and engraftment of hematopoietic long-term repopulating cells in large animals and humans remain primary obstacles to the successful application of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene transfer in humans. Recent studies have reported improved efficiency by including stromal cells (STR), or the fibronectin fragment CH-296 (FN), and various cytokines such as flt3 ligand (FLT) during ex vivo culture and transduction in nonhuman primates. In this work, we extend our studies using the rhesus competitive repopulation model to further explore optimal and clinically feasible peripheral blood (PB) progenitor cell transduction methods. First, we compared transduction in the presence of either preformed autologous STR or immobilized FN. Long-term clinically relevant gene marking levels in multiple hematopoietic lineages from both conditions were demonstrated in vivo by semiquantitative PCR, colony PCR, and genomic Southern blotting, suggesting that FN could replace STR in ex vivo transduction protocols. Second, we compared transduction on FN in the presence of IL-3, IL-6, stem cell factor (SCF), and FLT (our best cytokine combination in prior studies) with a combination of megakaryocyte growth and development factor (MGDF), SCF, and FLT. Gene marking levels were equivalent in these animals, with no significant effect on retroviral gene transfer efficiency assessed in vivo by the replacement of IL-3 and IL-6 with MGDF. Our results indicate that SCF/G-CSF-mobilized PB CD34⁺ cells are transduced with equivalent efficiency in the presence of either STR or FN, with stable long-term marking of multiple lineages at levels of 10–15% and transient marking as high as 54%. These results represent an advance in the field of HSC gene transfer using methods easily applied in the clinical setting.     

Optimal conditions for lentiviral transduction of engrafting human CD34+ cells

Cytokines are required for γ-retroviral transduction of human CD34+ cells. However, cytokines may reduce engraftment of CD34+ cells and may not be necessary for their lentiviral transduction. We sought to optimize transduction and engraftment of human CD34+ cells using lentiviral vectors. Single 24?h transduction of human CD34+ cells with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV1)-based lentiviral vectors in media containing stem cell factor (SCF), FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) ligand, thrombopoietin (each 100?ng?ml?1) and 10% fetal bovine serum was compared with various cytokine conditions during ex vivo culture and assayed using humanized xenograft mice for 6 months after transplantation. Serum-free media improved transduction efficiency of human CD34+ cells. Interleukin-3 (20?ng?ml?1) had little effect on transduction efficiency or engraftment. Threefold higher cytokine mixture (each 300?ng?ml?1) reduced engraftment of CD34+ cells. SCF alone (100?ng?ml?1) proved insufficient for maintaining engraftment ability and reduced transduction efficiency. Short-term prestimulation had little effect on transduction efficiency or engraftment, yet 24?h prestimulation showed higher transduction efficiency, higher gene expression levels and lower engraftment. In summary, 24?h prestimulation followed by single 24-h lentiviral transduction in serum-free media with SCF, FLT3 ligand and thrombopoietin yields high transduction efficiency to engrafting human CD34+ cells, and is applicable in human clinical gene therapy trials.     

Preincubation with endothelial cell monolayers increases gene transfer efficiency into human bone marrow CD34(+)CD38(-) progenitor cells

Retroviral gene transfer studies targeting bone marrow CD34(+)CD38(-) stem cells have been disappointing because of the rarity of these cells, their G(0) cell cycle status, and their low or absent expression of surface retroviral receptors. In this study, we examined whether preincubation of bone marrow CD34(+)CD38(-) stem cells with a hematopoietically supportive porcine microvascular endothelial cell line (PMVECs) could impact the cell cycle status and expression of retroviral receptors in pluripotent CD34+CD38- cells and the efficiency of gene transfer into these primitive target cells. PMVEC coculture supplemented with GM-CSF + IL-3 + IL-6 + SCF + Flt-3 ligand induced >93% of the CD34(+)CD38(-) population to enter the G(1) or G(2)/S/M phase while increasing this population from 1.4% on day 0 to 6.5% of the total population by day 5. Liquid cultures supplemented with the identical cytokines induced 73% of the CD34(+)CD38(-) population into cell cycle but did not maintain cells with the CD34(+)CD38(-) phenotype over time. We found no significant increase in the levels of AmphoR or GaLVR mRNA in PMVEC-expanded CD34(+)CD38(-) cells after coculture. Despite this, the efficiency of gene transfer using either amphotropic vector (PA317) or GaLV vector (PG13) was significantly greater in PMVEC-expanded CD34(+)CD38(-) cells (11.4 +/- 5.6 and 10.9 +/- 5.2%, respectively) than in either steady state bone marrow CD34(+)CD38(-) cells (0.6 +/- 1.7 and 0.2 +/- 0.6%, respectively; p < 0.01 and p < 0.01) or liquid culture-expanded CD34(+)CD38(-) cells (1.4 +/- 3.5 and 0.0%, respectively; p < 0.01 and p < 0.01). Since PMVEC coculture induces a high level of cell cycling in human bone marrow CD34(+)CD38(-) cells and expands hematopoietic cells capable of in vivo repopulation, this system offers potential advantages for application in clinical gene therapy protocols.     

Quiescent subpopulations of human CD34-positive hematopoietic stem cells are preferred targets for stable recombinant adeno-associated virus type 2 transduction

We have previously demonstrated recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) transduction of human CD34(+) hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) capable of serial engraftment in vivo. Here we evaluated the capacity of rAAV2 to mediate gene transfer into nondividing, quiescent, primitive CD34(+) cells subdivided on the basis of metabolic, mitotic, and phenotypic properties. Results revealed that CD34(+)CD38() marrow cells are the most quiescent, exist primarily in G(0) at isolation and are the only population to remain nondividing during the entire exposure to free rAAV. Despite significant differences in the extended clonogenic capacities of CD34(+) subsets in stromal cultures, the frequency of rAAV marking of colonies derived from primitive progenitors was similar in all three populations, suggesting that both primitive and more differentiated progenitors were initially transduced at equal levels. After transduction, episomal and integrated rAAV genomes were detected in all CD34(+) subsets. However, the more quiescent cells displayed higher levels of integrated rAAV than did rapidly dividing cells. Importantly, stable long-term integration was observed only in the most primitive, quiescent CD34(+)CD38(-) subset, indicating that this HSC compartment comprises the preferred substrate for stable rAAV2 transduction. Previously described rate limitations to transgene expression were observed in transduced CD34(+) cells and could be overcome by tyrphostin pretreatment, which resulted in augmented second-strand synthesis. These results represent the first demonstration of rAAV-mediated gene transfer to primitive, quiescent human CD34(+)CD38(-) stem cells and reveal that nondividing CD34(+)CD38(-) HSCs are the optimal CD34(+) targets for rAAV transduction.     

Correlation of time to platelet engraftment with amount of transplanted CD34+CD41+ cells after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

A major problem after autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation is prolonged thrombocytopenia. There are several studies published about correlations of the composition of the graft and time to platelet engraftment for autologous transplantation but only a few studies for allogeneic transplantation. In our study, we wanted to find out whether the correlation between the time to platelet engraftment and amount of transplanted CD34(+)CD41(+) cells described previously after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation could be reproduced in the allogeneic bone marrow transplantation setting. We found correlations not only for the number of transplanted CD34(+) cells with the time to leukocyte engraftment (r = -0.32, p = 0.045) but also for the number of transplanted CD34(+)CD41(+) cells and time to platelet engraftment (r = -0.34, p = 0.038), which were both statistically significant. A significant correlation between transplanted CD34(+) cells versus platelet engraftment and transplanted CD34(+)CD41(+) cells versus leukocyte engraftment was not found. The finding that the amount of committed megakaryocyte progenitor cells in the graft is an important predictive factor for platelet engraftment after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation might be the base for future studies of ex vivo expansion of clonable megakaryocyte precursors.     

The composition of leukapheresis products impacts on the hematopoietic recovery after autologous transplantation independently of the mobilization regimen

BACKGROUND: Effects of mobilization regimen on the composition of leukapheresis products (LPs) and on hematopoietic reconstitution after autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation (PBPCT) are not well known. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The effects of three different mobilization regimens--stem cell factor (SCF) plus granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) plus cyclophosphamide (CCP), G-CSF alone, and G-CSF plus CCP--on the composition of LPs from patients with nonhematologic PBPC malignancies compared to LPs from G-CSF-mobilized healthy donors and normal marrow (BM) samples were analyzed. The impact of LP composition on both short- and long-term engraftment after autologous PBPCT was also evaluated. RESULTS: The most effective regimen for mobilization of CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) into peripheral blood was SCF, G-CSF, and CCP, providing the highest numbers of all CD34+ HPCs subsets analyzed. Patients mobilized with SCF plus G-CSF plus CCP showed the highest numbers of neutrophils and monocytes, whereas the highest numbers of lymphocytes and NK cells were observed in LPs from G-CSF-mobilized patients. The overall number of CD34+ HPCs was the strongest factor for predicting recovery of platelets, whereas the number of myelomonocytic-committed CD34+ precursors was the most powerful independent prognostic factor for WBC and neutrophil recovery. The overall number of CD4+ T cells returned showed an independent prognostic value for predicting the occurrence of infections, during the first year after transplant. CONCLUSIONS: The use of different mobilization regimens modifies the overall number of CD34+ HPCs obtained during leukapheresis procedures, and also affects both the absolute and the relative composition of the LPs in different CD34+ and CD34- cell subsets.     

Efficient oncoretroviral transduction of extended long-term culture-initiating cells and NOD/SCID repopulating cells: enhanced reconstitution with gene-marked cells through an ex vivo expansion approach

Recent developments of surrogate assays for human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) have facilitated efforts at improving HSC gene transfer efficiency. Through the use of xenograft transplantation models, such as nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/SCID) mice, successful oncoretroviral gene transfer to transplantable hematopoietic cells has been achieved. However, because of the low frequency and/or homing efficiency of SCID repopulating cells (SRC) in bone marrow (BM), studies have primarily focused on cord blood (CB). The recently developed extended (> 60 days) long-term culture-initiating cell (ELTC-IC) assay detects an infrequent and highly quiescent candidate stem cell population in BM as well as CB of the CD34(+)CD38(-) phenotype. Although these characteristics suggest that ELTC-IC and SRC might be closely related, attempts to oncoretrovirally transduce ELTC-IC have been unsuccessful. Here, recently developed conditions (high concentrations of SCF + FL + Tpo in serum-free medium) supporting expansion of BM CD34(+)CD38(-) 12 week ELTC-IC promoted efficient oncoretroviral transduction of BM and CB ELTC-IC. Although SRC can be transduced with oncoretroviral vectors, this is frequently associated with loss of reconstituting activity, posing a problem for development of clinical HSC gene therapy. However, previous attempts at expanding transduced HSC posttransduction resulted in compromised rather than improved gene marking. Utilizing conditions promoting cell divisions and transduction of ELTC-IC we show that although 5 days of ex vivo culture is sufficient to obtain maximum gene transfer efficiency to SRC, extension of the expansion period to 12 days significantly enhances multilineage reconstitution activity of transduced SRC, supporting the feasibility of improving gene marking through ex vivo expansion.     

Retroviral marking and transplantation of rhesus hematopoietic cells by nonmyeloablative conditioning.

The ability to engraft significant numbers of genetically modified hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells without the requirement for fully myeloablative conditioning therapy is a highly desirable goal for the treatment of many nonmalignant hematologic disorders. The aims of this study were to examine, in nonhuman primates (rhesus), (1) the effects of pretreatment of host animals with cytokines (G-CSF and SCF), i.e., before nonmyeloablative irradiation, on the degree and duration of neo gene marking of circulating leukocytes after autologous cell reinfusion and (2) to compare transduction of primitive hematopoietic target cells in the presence of our standard transduction cytokine combination of IL-3, IL-6, and stem cell factor (SCF) and in the presence of an alternative combination containing SCF, G-CSF, and the thrombopoietin analog MGDF. Cytokine-mobilized rhesus peripheral blood progenitor/stem cells (PBSCs) were enriched for CD34+ cells and transduced with neo vectors (either G1Na or LNL6) for 96 hr in cultures containing rhIL-3, rhIL-6, and rhSCF or MGDF, rhSCF, and rhG-CSF and cryopreserved. Four animals underwent minimal myeloablative conditioning with 500 cGy irradiation with or without pretreatment with SCF and G-CSF, followed by reinfusion of the cryopreserved cells on the subsequent day. Neutrophil nadirs (< or =500/mm3) were 0-3 days in duration; there were no significant periods of severe thrombocytopenia. Marking of circulating granulocytes and mononuclear cells was extensive and durable in all animals (exceeding 12% in the mononuclear cells of one animal) and persisted beyond the final sampling time in all animals (up to 33 weeks). No difference in extent or duration of marking was attributable to either cytokine presensitization of recipients prior to irradiation, or to the substitution of MDGF and G-CSF for IL-3 and IL-6 during transduction.     

Comparison of Various Envelope Proteins for Their Ability to Pseudotype Lentiviral Vectors and Transduce Primitive Hematopoietic Cells from Human Blood

Substantial effort has been invested in developing methodologies for efficient gene transfer into human, repopulating, hematopoietic stem cells. Oncoretroviral vectors are limited by the lack of nuclear mitosis in quiescent stem cells during ex vivo transduction, whereas the preintegration complex of lentiviral vectors contains nuclear-localizing signals that permit genome integration without mitosis. We have developed a flexible and versatile system for generating lentiviral vector particles and have pseudotyped such particles with amphotropic, ecotropic, feline endogenous virus (RD114) or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV-G) envelope proteins. Particles of all four types could be concentrated ∼100-fold by ultracentrifugation or ultrafiltration. RD114 or amphotropic particles were more efficient than VSV-G-pseudotyped particles at transducing human cord blood CD34⁺ cells and clonogenic progenitors within that population. Amphotropic particles transduced cytokine-mobilized, human peripheral blood CD34⁺ cells capable of establishing hematopoiesis in immunodeficient mice more efficiently than the other two types of particles. We conclude that the use of amphotropic pseudotyped lentiviral vector particles rather than the commonly used VSV-G-pseudotyped particles should be considered in potential applications of lentiviral vectors for gene transfer into this therapeutically relevant target cell population.     

IL-3 or IL-7 increases ex vivo gene transfer efficiency in ADA-SCID BM CD34+ cells while maintaining in vivo lymphoid potential.

To improve maintenance and gene transfer of human lymphoid progenitors for clinical use in gene therapy of adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient SCID we investigated several gene transfer protocols using various stem cell-enriched sources. The lymphoid differentiation potential was measured by an in vitro clonal assay for B/NK cells and in the in vivo SCID-hu mouse model. Ex vivo culture with the cytokines TPO, FLT3-ligand, and SCF (T/F/S) plus IL-3 or IL-7 substantially increased the yield of transduced bone marrow (BM) CD34(+) cells purified from ADA-SCID patients or healthy donors, compared to T/F/S alone. Moreover, the use of IL-3 or IL-7 significantly improved the maintenance of in vitro B cell progenitors from ADA-SCID BM cells and allowed the efficient transduction of B and NK cell progenitors. Under these optimized conditions transduced CD34(+) cells were efficiently engrafted into SCID-hu mice and gave rise to B and T cell progeny, demonstrating the maintenance of in vivo lymphoid reconstitution capacity. The protocol based on the T/F/S + IL-3 combination was included in a gene therapy clinical trial for ADA-SCID, resulting in long-term engraftment of stem/progenitor cells. Remarkably, gene-corrected BM CD34(+) cells obtained from one patient 4 and 11 months after gene therapy were capable of repopulating the lymphoid compartment of SCID-hu hosts.     

Prior cryopreservation of ex vivo-expanded cord blood cells is not detrimental to engraftment as measured in the NOD-SCID mouse model

Cytokine-mediated expansion has been proposed and successfully used to facilitate engraftment post transplantation. This study examined whether cryopreservation following expansion has a detrimental effect on the ability of cells to engraft, using the NOD-SCID mouse model. Cord blood (CB) CD34(+) cells were incubated for 7 days with stem cell factor (SCF), flt-3 ligand (FL), and megakaryocyte growth and development factor (MGDF). Expanded CD34(+) cells were transplanted into NOD-SCID mice either fresh or following cryopreservation and thawing. After thawing, recovery of nucleated cells was 94%, of CD34 cells was 63%, and of day-14 progenitors was 17%. The loss of day-14 progenitor cells among the thawed expanded cells did not influence the kinetics of human engraftment in the mouse. Bone marrow (BM) of mice transplanted with thawed expanded CD34(+) cells (14 +/- 3.9%) showed significantly higher levels of human engraftment than mice transplanted with fresh expanded CD34(+) cells (1.5 +/- 0.5%, p = 0.0064). Thawed expanded CD34(+) cells had significantly higher SCID Engrafting Potential (SEP) than freshly expanded CD34(+) cells (p < 0.001). Results suggest that prior cryopreservation does not prevent expanded cells engrafting in NOD-SCID mice.     

Expansion of human NOD/SCID-repopulating cells by stem cell factor, Flk2/Flt3 ligand, thrombopoietin, IL-6, and soluble IL-6 receptor

Here, we demonstrate a significant ex vivo expansion of human hematopoietic stem cells capable of repopulating in NOD/SCID mice. Using a combination of stem cell factor (SCF), Flk2/Flt3 ligand (FL), thrombopoietin (TPO), and a complex of IL-6 and soluble IL-6 receptor (IL-6/sIL-6R), we cultured cord blood CD34(+) cells for 7 days and transplanted these cells into NOD/SCID mice. Bone marrow engraftment was judged successful when recipient animals contained measurable numbers of human CD45(+) cells 10-12 weeks after transplantation. When cells were cultured with SCF+FL+TPO+IL-6/sIL-6R, 13 of 16 recipients were successfully engrafted, and CD45(+) cells represented 11.5% of bone marrow cells in engrafted recipients. Cells cultured with a subset of these factors were less efficiently engrafted, both as measured by frequency of successful transplantations and prevalence of CD45(+) cells. In animals receiving cells cultured with all 4 factors, human CD45(+) cells represented various lineages, including a large number of CD34(+) cells. The proportion of CD45(+) cells in recipient marrow was 10 times higher in animals receiving these cultured cells than in those receiving comparable numbers of fresh CD34(+) cells, and the expansion rate was estimated at 4.2-fold by a limiting dilution method. Addition of IL-3 to the cytokine combination abrogated the repopulating ability of the expanded cells. The present study may provide a novel culture method for the expansion of human transplantable hematopoietic stem cells suitable for clinical applications.     

Mobilization and homing of peripheral blood progenitors is related to reversible downregulation of alpha4 beta1 integrin expression and function.

Despite the wide use of mobilized peripheral blood (PB) progenitor cells (PBPC) for clinical transplantation the mechanism(s) underlying their mobilization and subsequent engraftment are still unknown. We compared the adhesive phenotype of CD34(+) colony-forming cells (CFC) in bone marrow (BM) and PB of normal donors before and after administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) for 5 d. G-CSF-mobilized PB CFC cells adhered significantly less to BM stroma, fibronectin, and to the alpha4 beta1 binding fibronectin peptide, CS1, because of decreased expression of the alpha4 integrin. Since incubation of BM CD34(+) cells for 4 d with G-CSF at concentrations found in serum of G-CSF- treated individuals did not affect alpha4-dependent adhesion, G-CSF may not be directly responsible for the decreased alpha4-mediated adhesion of PB CFC. Culture of G-CSF-mobilized PB CD34(+) cells with cytokines at concentrations found in BM stromal cultures upregulated alpha4 expression and restored adhesion of mobilized PB CFC to stroma, fibronectin, and CS1. Adhesion of cultured, mobilized PB CFC to stroma and CS1 could not be further upregulated by the beta1 activating antibody, 8A2. This indicates acquisition of a maximally activated alpha4 beta1 integrin once PB CFC have been removed from the in vivo mobilizing milieu. Thus, decreased alpha4 expression on CD34(+) CFC in PB may be responsible for the aberrant circulation of mobilized PB CD34(+) cells. Reexpression of a maximally activated alpha4 beta1 integrin on mobilized PB CFC removed from the mobilizing in vivo milieu may contribute to the early engraftment of mobilized PBPC.     

Factors affecting purification of CD34(+) peripheral blood stem cells using the Baxter Isolex 300i

A total of 201 patients with breast cancer, ovarian cancer, or hematological malignancies underwent mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) using chemotherapy and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). Stem cell products were collected using the Baxter CS3000 pheresis machine. The Baxter Isolex 300i was used to perform 240 CD34(+) cell separations on the apheresis products. Factors affecting yield and purity of the CD34(+) cells were analyzed. Overall yield was 55% and overall purity was 91.7%. T cell contamination was limited to 0.43% of total cells. Variables including red blood cells (RBC) concentration, platelet concentration, CD34(+) cell concentration, total WBCs selected, and time until processing had little effect on yields and purities. Installation of version 2.5 of the software in the Isolex 300i showed a modest improvement in yield and purity. Patients were reinfused with the cryopreserved CD34(+) selected cells following high-dose chemotherapy. No infusion-related side effects were noted. Analysis of engraftment data using the CD34(+)-selected cells revealed an increased risk of delayed or failed platelet engraftment when <5.0 x 10(6) CD34(+) cells per kilogram were transplanted. The Baxter Isolex 300i provides reproducible CD34(+) cell purification over a wide range of starting conditions. To provide prompt engraftment, >5.0 x 10(6) CD34(+) cells per kilogram should be infused for transplantation.     

Recent developments in the regulation of peripheral blood stem cell mobilization and engraftment by cytokines, chemokines, and adhesion molecules

Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) have become the preferred source of stem cells for autologous transplantation because of the technical advantage and the shorter time to engraftment. Administration of hematopoietic growth factors such as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) results in mobilization of PBSCs into the peripheral blood. G-CSF and GM-CSF differ somewhat in the number and composition of CD34(+) cells and effector cells mobilized to the peripheral blood; however, the molecular mechanism underlying the release and engraftment of CD34(+) cells by these growth factors is poorly understood. This review provides a recent update on the involvement of hematopoietic growth factors, chemokines, adhesion molecules, and chemokine receptors in the regulation of stem cell release and engraftment. The involvement of very late antigen-4 (VLA-4), VLA-5, leukocyte function associated-1 molecule (LFA-1), and L-selectin and their receptors CXCR4 and its ligand SDF-1 will be discussed, and cross talk between these factors will also be reviewed in the context of stem cell release and engraftment. Finally, PBSC mobilization by chemokines will be reviewed in relation to hematopoietic growth factors.