Enrichment and purification of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) is important in transplantation therapies for hematological disorders and for basic stem cell research. Primitive CD34+ HSPCs have demonstrated stronger rolling adhesion than mature CD34- mononuclear cells on selectins (
). We have exploited this differential rolling behavior to capture and purify HSPCs from bone marrow, by perfusing mononuclear cells through selectin-coated microtubes. Bone marrow mononuclear cells were perfused through the cell capture microtubes coated with adhesion molecules. These utilized a parallel plate flow chamber (Glycotech), and the P-selectin was adsorbed with laboratory tubing of appropriate lengths attached to the inlet, outlet, and vacuum ports of the gasket chamber. After perfusion, the device lumen was washed and captured cells were visualized and estimated by video microscopy. “Rolling” cells were defined as cells translating at less than 50% of the calculated hydrodynamic free stress velocity. Velocities of single cells were determined using a MATLAB program designed to measure the change in position of the cell centroid in a given time period. Adherent cells were eluted by high shear, calcium free buffer and air embolism. Immunofluorescence staining followed by flow cytometry was used to analyze CD34+ HSPCs. CD34+ HSPC purity of cells captured in adhesion molecule-coated devices was significantly higher than the fraction of CD34+ cells found in bone marrow- mononuclear cells (2.5 ± 0.8%). P-selectin coated surfaces yielded 16–20% CD34+ cell purity, while antibody coated surfaces yielded 12–18%. Although the CD34+ cell purities were comparable between selectin and antibody surfaces, the total number of CD34+ HSPCs captured was significantly higher in P-selectin devices (∼5.7–7.1 × 104) when compared to the antibody device (∼1.74–2.61 × 104). Furthermore, analysis for cells positive for CD133, a surface marker for more primitive HSPCs, depicted approximately 10–14 fold enrichment in P-selectin samples over control bone marrow mononuclear cells. The captured cells were viable and exhibited in vitro colony forming capabilities. Thus, P-selectin can be used in a compact flow device to capture and enrich HSPCs. This study supports the hypothesis that flow-based adhesion molecule-mediated capture may be a viable physiologic approach to the capture and purification of HSPCs.
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