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Lack of Self-Renewal Capacity in Fancc^–/– Stem Cells After Ex Vivo Expansion

^a Human and Molecular Genetic Unit, CHUQ-Hôpital Saint-François-d’Assise, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada;
^b Department of Pediatrics, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Key Words. Fanconi anemia • Hematopoietic stem cells • Ex vivo expansion • Self-renewal

Correspondence: Madeleine Carreau, Ph.D., Human and Molecular Genetic Unit, CHUQ-Hôpital St-François d’Assise, 10 rue de l’Espinay, Quebec, QC, Canada G1L 3L5. Telephone: 418-525-4402; Fax: 418-525-4195; e-mail: madeleine.carreau{at}crsfa.ulaval.ca

Treatments of the hematological manifestation in Fanconi anemia (FA) are first supported by attempts to stimulate hematopoiesis with androgens or hematopoietic growth factors. However, the long-term curative treatment of the hematological manifestation in FA patients is bone marrow (BM) or cord blood stem cell transplantation. The success rate for BM transplantation is fairly high with HLA-matched sibling donors but is, unfortunately, low with HLA-matched unrelated donors. An alternative curative treatment for those patients with no sibling donors might be gene transfer into hematopoietic stem cells. Because FA patients have reduced numbers of stem/progenitor cells, ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells would be a crucial step in gene transfer protocols. Using the FA mouse model, Fancc^–/–, we tested the ability of CD34^– hematopoietic stem cells to support ex vivo expansion. We determined that Fancc^–/– CD34^– stem cells have reduced reconstitution ability and markedly reduced self-renewal ability after culture, as shown by secondary transplants. These results indicate that FA stem cells may not be well suited for ex vivo expansion before gene transfer or transplantation protocols.