Discarded leukoreduction filters: a new source of stem cells for research, cell engineering and therapy?

New adult stem cell sources, devoid of the technical/ethical/economical barriers of those presently available, would favor the ongoing development of in vitro cell engineering and transplantation. Hematopoietic transplantation opened the way to and remains the most successful cell transplantation procedure. CD34+ cells that include hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and hematopoietic progenitors (HPs) are presently harvested from bone marrow (BM), cord blood or peripheral blood (after being mobilized from BM).

Obtaining of CD34+ cells from healthy blood donors: development of a rapid and efficient procedure using leukoreduction filters.

Background: Human CD34+ cells are mandatory to study many aspects of human hematopoiesis. Their low frequency in blood or marrow and ethical reasons limit their obtainment in large quantities. Leukoreduction filters (LRFs) are discarded after preparation of red blood cells.