Mesenchymal stem cells and haematopoietic stem cell culture

Haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is an established cell-based therapy for a number of haematological malignancies and immunodeficiency diseases. However, the limited number of HSC from umbilical cord blood (UCB) limits the efficacy of transplants from this source. This limitation could be overcome by expanding the HSC population prior to transplantation. Although such processes have shown little success to date, it is thought that self-renewal of HSC in vitro may be possible through replication of the environmental cues found in the bone marrow (BM) stem cell niche. It is thought that non-haematopoietic cell types residing in the putative HSC niche could provide these cues. Mesenchymal stem/ stromal cells (MSC) are one such cell type found in the BM niche that provide these cues. Thus, this review will explore how MSC have been used in the ex vivo expansion of HSC