Abstract

Eun-Mi Kim1, Nicholas Zavazava1,21Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Iowa City, Iowa, USA; 2Immunology Graduate Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA: Human embryonic stem cells are essential for improved understanding of diseases and our ability to probe new therapies for use in humans. Currently, bone marrow cells and cord blood cells are used for transplantation into patients with hematopoietic malignancies, immunodeficiencies and in some cases for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. However, due to the high immunogenicity of these hematopoietic cells, toxic regimens of drugs are required for preconditioning and prevention of rejection. Here, we investigated the efficiency of deriving hematopoietic progenitor cells from the hES cell line H13, after co-culturing with the murine stromal cell line OP9. We show that HPCs derived from the H13 ES cells poorly express major histocompatibility complex class I and no detectable class II antigens. These characteristics make hES cell-derived hematopoietic cells ideal candidates for transplantation across MHC barriers under minimal immunosuppression.Keywords: human embryonic stem cells, H13, hematopoiesis, OP9 stromal cells, immunogenicity