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Stem Cells

Morphological and molecular characterization of novel population of CXCR4+ SSEA-4+ Oct-4+ very small embryonic-like cells purified from human cord blood – preliminary report

Leukemia volume 21, pages 297–303 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Recently, we purified from adult murine bone marrow (BM) a population of CXCR4+, Oct-4+ SSEA-1+, Sca-1+ lin− CD45− very small embryonic-like (VSEL) stem cells and hypothesized that similar cells could be also present in human cord blood (CB). Here, we report that by employing a novel two-step isolation procedure – removal of erythrocytes by hypotonic lysis combined with multiparameter sorting – we could isolate from CB a population of human cells that are similar to murine BM-derived VSELs, described previously by us. These CB-isolated VSELs (CB-VSEL) are very small (3–5 μm) and highly enriched in a population of CXCR4+AC133+CD34+lin− CD45− CB mononuclear cells, possess large nuclei containing unorganized euchromatin and express nuclear embryonic transcription factors Oct-4 and Nanog and surface embryonic antigen SSEA-4. Further studies are needed to see if human CB-isolated VSELs similar to their murine BM-derived counterparts are endowed with pluripotent stem cell properties.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an NIH Grants R01 CA106281-01 and R01 DK074720 to MZR. The technical help of Kathy Caple from the University of Louisville for preparing TEM analysis is also appreciated. We thank Dr R Czajka from the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland and Dr J Sotomayor from the Foundation ‘Babies for Life’ from Atlanta, Georgia for supporting us with fresh human CB samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stem Cell Biology Program at James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

    M Kucia, M Wysoczynski, S Moldenhawer, E Zuba-Surma, W Wojakowski & M Z Ratajczak

  2. Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland

    M Halasa, M Baskiewicz-Masiuk, R Czajka & B Machalinski

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  1. M Kucia
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  2. M Halasa
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  3. M Wysoczynski
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Correspondence to M Z Ratajczak.

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Kucia, M., Halasa, M., Wysoczynski, M. et al. Morphological and molecular characterization of novel population of CXCR4+ SSEA-4+ Oct-4+ very small embryonic-like cells purified from human cord blood – preliminary report. Leukemia 21, 297–303 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404470

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