Positive selection of hematopoietic progenitors from marrow and peripheral blood for transplantation

The ability to obtain large numbers of purified hematopoietic progenitors (HPC) will facilitate the understanding of elements that influence the growth and differentiation of bone marrow. Furthermore, HPC isolation will have direct application to autologous marrow transplantation (AMT) for malignancies as well as facilitate the transfer of genes in marrow cells for the correction of genetic disorders. The transplantation of HPC will help delineate the cells or factors responsible for graft rejection and graft-versus-host-disease. Or several techniques that have been utilized for the separation of HPC, only the avidin-biotin immunoadsorption (ABIA) method has been shown capable of separating the number of cells required for large animals and man. The application of this technique to AMT in man requires the identification of an antigen found predominantly on HPC in peripheral blood or marrow but not on malignant cells that could potentially contaminate bone marrow. Studies have demonstrated that the CD34 antigen is expressed by the majority of human marrow HPC measured in long-term marrow culture and is expressed on cells capable of autologous engraftment in lethally irradiated baboons. Although the CD34 antigen is not detectable by FACS analysis on peripheral blood cells, ABIA can enrich for such cells. The CD34 antigen is not detected on cells from patients with breast cancer or neuroblastoma thus allowing clinical studies to proceed. Preliminary results suggest that CD34(+)-enriched cells are depleted of tumor cells and are capable of autologous reconstitution in man.