HEMATOPOIETIC-CELL CULTURE THERAPIES .2. CELL-CULTURE CONSIDERATIONS

Hematopoietic cell culture, or ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic cell s, is a rapidly growing area of tissue engineering with many potential applications in bone-marrow transplantation, gene therapy and the pro duction of blood products. Hematopoietic cultures are considerably mor e complex than established animal cell culture technologies owing to t he presence of many cell types at various differentiation stages, and stringent medium and growth factor requirements. Culture parameters, s uch as pH, oxygen tension, seeding density and feeding schedules, sign ificantly affect the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoieti c cells. A number of bioreactor systems are currently under developmen t.