Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) effectively and continuously renew a full spectrum of blood cell populations. Bone marrow and umbilical cord blood stem cells transplantation (SCT) restore hematopoietsis, when used in various hematological and oncohematological disorders in adults and children. However, wider clinical application of effective SCT-based approaches is limited by the low number of the primitive HSC in the available biospecimens. Development of effective protocols for HSC expansion in vitro is therefore necessary. In this review, a concept of bone marrow hematopoiesis niche being a complex cellular system is discussed; a comparative analysis of various methods for HSC expansion in vitro is provided. The review is illustrated by the authors own data supporting application of various feeder cell types for human HSC expansion in vitro.