Purification of murine CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells using immunomagnetic beads

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficiency of immunomagnetic beads in the purification of CD34+ cells from murine bone marrow. METHODS: CD34+ cells were isolated from murine bone marrow using immunomagnetic beads on MiniMACS device. Fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) was employed to determine the percentages of CD34+ cells before and after the purification procedures followed by calculation of the viable cells surviving the purification by means of trypan blue staining. RESULTS: The purity of CD34+ cells amounted to 81.5% (ranging from 76.80% to 85.38%) after the purification with a median recovery rate of 47.54% (ranging from 40.50% to 54.31%). The cell viability was not notably impaired (P=0.169). CONCLUSION: Highly purified CD34+ cells can be obtained from murine bone marrow using MiniMACS which does not impair the viability of the derived cells.