Pegacaristim

We recently developed a clinical grade ex vivo cord blood expansion procedure enabling a massive amplification of hematopoietic progenitors without any loss of stem cell potential. This procedure, based on day 14 liquid cultures of cord blood CD34+cells, in medium Macopharma HP01 and in the presence of stem cell factor (SCF; 100 ng/ml), fms-related tyrosine kinase 3-ligand (Flt-3L; 100 ng/ml), megakaryocyte growth and developmental factor (MGDF; 100 ng/ml), and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF; 10 ng/ml) had to be modified due to the commercially unavailability of clinical grade MGDF molecule. So MGDF was replaced by thrombopoietin (TPO) in fivefold lower dose (20 ng/ml), and culture time was reduced to 12 days. That way, a mean expansion fold of 400, 80, and 150 was obtained for total cells, CD34+cells, and colony-forming cells (CFCs), respectively. This amplification was associated with a slight enhancing effect on stem cells [Scid repopulating cells (SRCs)]. These are the ultimate preclinical modifications of a clinical grade expansion protocol, which is already employed in an ongoing clinical trial.

The thermal‐response and mechanical properties of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) are improved by controlling the polymer nanostructure through photopolymerization in a bicontinuous cubic lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) template. The bicontinuous cubic nanostructure increases the rate and amount of water expelled from PNIPAm for heating above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) relative to an isotropic PNIPAm hydrogel while maintaining the mechanical integrity of the polymer. These results could allow development of PNIPAm hydrogels with proper water uptake, deswelling kinetics, volume transition, and mechanical properties required for successful performance in a growing number of advanced biological and industrial applications. magnified image