Ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells: Finally transitioning from the lab to the clinic

• Published in: Blood reviews Vol. 50; p. 100853
• Main Authors: Zimran, Eran, Papa, Luena, Hoffman, Ronald
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2021
• Subjects: ex vivo expansion; Fetal Blood - physiology; Gene editing; Gene therapy; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; Hematopoietic stem cells; Hematopoietic Stem Cells - cytology; Humans; Umbilical cord blood; Umbilical cord blood; Gene therapy; ex vivo expansion; Gene editing; Hematopoietic stem cells; Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
• ISSN: 0268-960X; 1532-1681; 1532-1681
• DOI: 10.1016/j.blre.2021.100853

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been used for therapeutic purposes for decades in the form of autologous and allogeneic transplantation and are currently emerging as an attractive target for gene therapy. A low stem cell dose is a major barrier to the application of HSC therapy in several situations, primarily umbilical cord blood transplantation and gene modification. Strategies that promote ex vivo expansion of the numbers of functional HSCs could overcome this barrier, hence have been the subject of intense and prolonged research. Several ex vivo expansion strategies have advanced to evaluation clinical trials, which are showing favorable outcomes along with convincing safety signals. Preclinical studies have recently confirmed beneficial incorporation of ex vivo expansion into HSC gene modification protocols. Collectively, ex vivo HSC expansion holds promise for significantly broadening the availability of cord blood units for transplantation, and for optimizing gene therapy protocols to enable their clinical application.