In Vitro Culture of Mast Cells from Human Umbilical Cord Blood Cells

Ahn, Kang Mo; Lee, Sang Il

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to induce the differentiation of mast cells from human umbilical cord blood.
METHODS
Mononuclear cells and CD34+ cells were obtained from cord blood and were cultured in the presence of stem cell factor, IL-3 and IL-6 in liquid suspension culture for 8 weeks. Mast cell was confirmed by Wright-Giemsa staining, immuno-histochemistry for tryptase and flowcytometry.
RESULTS
When mononuclear cells were cultured for 4 weeks, the percentage of CD34-, CD117+ cells increased up to 8% in the presence of SCF only and 6.6% in the presence of SCF and IL-6. After 8 weeks of culture of CD34+ cells, the percentage of CD34-, CD117+ cells was highest at an average of 14.8% when cultured with SCF only, although absolute number of CD34-, CD117+ cells was higher when cultured in the presence of SCF, IL-3 and IL-6.
CONCLUSION
We developed human mast cells from umbilical cord blood. However, some other factors such as combination or concentration of cytokines should be considered to enhance the efficiency of mast cell culture. In addition, mature cultured mast cells should be evaluated by flowcytometry as well as a special staining including immunohistochemistry.