Cultivation of cells for long term engraftment
AssigneeQuality Biological, Inc.
InventorRonald Brown
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In the art of tissue culture, it has been desired that serum-free culture conditions be found that support the growth and proliferation of hematopoeitic stem cells ex vivo. The present invention discloses a serum-free medium comprised, for example, of pharmaceutical grade components including pasteurized human proteins, that in the presence of the appropriate growth factors, supports the ex vivo maintenance, proliferation and/or differentiation of CD34+/CD38− cells derived from cord blood, mobilized peripheral blood or bone marrow. In conjunction with this effort, the ability of serum-free medium to maintain or cause proliferation of the HSCs ex vivo is assessed by their long-term engraftment in a chimeric sheep animal model.
Claims5
A method for determining the suitability of a cell population for transplantation into a patient requiring a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, comprising the steps of:
- obtaining a sample of cells including hematopoietic stem cells;
- and
- determining the number of CD34+/CD38− cells in said sample.
A method of gene therapy, comprising the steps of:
- culturing a sample of hematopoietic stem cells under conditions which maintain an effective amount of cells having long-term engraftment phenotype;
- transferring a therapeutic gene to correct a genetic defect into said hematopoietic stem cells either before or after said culturing;
- transplanting a therapeutic amount of hematopoietic stem cells into a patient requiring said gene therapy;
- and
- measuring the amount of CD34+/CD38− cells either before, after, or during said transplantation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.