TECHNOLOGY QUICK FACTS

Reference NumberDF072/DF073

Inventor NameNadim MahmudHiroto Araki

CampusChicago

Publications

PatentUS 2013/0136722 A1

Contact InformationDavid Klick312.996.7779dklick@uic.edu

DetailsUIC researchers have developed separate methods for ex vivo CB cell expansion using 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine following trichostatin and maintenance using valproic acid. A combination graft of CB cells treated to improve expansion and maintenance will improve the outcomes of patients receiving CB grafts. This technology has the potential to increase the number of adults who receive CB graft transplants and also improve leukemia and lymphoma patient outcomes after receiving CB transplants post chemotherapy.

Applications A method of growing and expanding HSCs from

umbilical cord blood donations while suppressing differentiation but retaining the self-renewing, multi-potential capability of HSCs in culture for transplantation

Benefits Incorporable with other stem cell technologies More specific stem cells for quick and long

term treatment Animal studies have been conducted as

experimental proof of concept

Technology OverviewHematopoietic stem cells (HSC) transplantation, in some instances following high-dose chemotherapy or radiation therapy, offers the best treatment option for most leukemias and other malignant and non-malignant blood disorders. A HSC transplant can help the body make enough healthy white blood cells, red blood cells or platelets to replace damaged or diseased cells, and reduce the risk of life-threatening infections, anemia and bleeding.

However, the difficulty of obtaining tissue matched donors limits the widespread use of allogeneic HSC transplantation to treat these diseases. One possible alternative source for HSC grafts is cord blood (CB). However, currently available banked CB units are unsuitable for transplantation for more than 90% of adult patients due to a limited number of HSCs within a single CB unit, which likely accounts for the high rate of graft failure and delayed engraftment. Therefore a better strategy is needed to enable ex vivo expanded CB grafts capable of shortening time to engraftment and sustained long term blood cell production in a host following transplantation as faster recovery times post CB transplantation would improve outcomes in this patient population.

Ex vivo expanded blood progenitor cells for faster reconstitution and sustained blood cell production