Use of hematopoietic growth factors for in vitro expansion of precursor cell populations

The increasing availability of recombinant human hematopoietic growth factors for clinical use has encouraged the development of novel approaches to the manipulation of hematopoiesis. Of particular note are the various strategies that have been proposed for ex vivo expansion of primitive hematopoietic cells. The majority of these involve growth of hematopoietic cells enriched in primitive progenitors in stromal cell-free suspension culture systems supported by the addition of various combinations of hematopoietic growth factors. In this article, we review recent progress in this area together with potential clinical applications for this technology.