Objective: To investigate the expansion of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) from umbilical cord blood using extracellular matrix (ECM) protein-coated three-dimensional hierarchical scaffolds.
Results: The expansion of HSPCs was evaluated through total nucleated cell (TNC) expansion, immuno-phenotypic analysis, and clonogenic ability. After 7 days of culture, three-dimensional cultures with fibronectin-coated scaffolds achieved the highest fold increase in TNCs (164 ± 6.9 fold) and the highest CD45(+)CD34(+) (35 %) and CD34(+)CD38(-) (32 %) ratios.
Conclusion: Three-dimensional hierarchical scaffolds were coated with ECM protein to simulate a biomimetic environment or niche, and had a significant effect on the expansion potential of HSPCs without changing their phenotype.
Keywords: Electrospinning; Ex vivo expansion; Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell; Hierarchical scaffold; Rapid prototyping; Stem cell niche.