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Home / Comparative Medicine, Volume 49, Number 6

Open Access Peripheral Blood Progenitor Cell Mobilization and Leukapheresis in Pigs

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Authors: Nash, K. 1 ; Chang, Q. 2 ; Watts, A. 2 ; Treter, S. 2 ; Oravec, G. 1 ; Ferrara, V. 1 ; Buhler, L. 1 ; Basker, M. 1 ; Gojo, S. 1 ; Sachs, D. H. 1 ; White-Scharf, M. 2 ; Down, J. D. 2 ; Cooper, D. K. C. 1 ; 

Source: Comparative Medicine, Volume 49, Number 6, December 1999, pp. 645-649(5)

Publisher: American Association for Laboratory Animal Science

Background and Purpose: The pig is being investigated as an organ donor for humans. Induction of immunologic tolerance to pig tissues in primates would overcome the major immunologic barriers to xenotransplantation. A proven method of inducing tolerance to allografts is by the induction of mixed hematopoietic chimerism by bone marrow transplantation. We are therefore investigating induction of mixed hematopoietic chimerism in the pig-to-baboon model.

Methods: To obtain large numbers of pig hematopoietic cells, leukapheresis was used to collect blood cell products in miniature swine (n = 5) after progenitor cell mobilization by use of a course of hematopoietic growth factors (cytokines), consisting of porcine interleukin 3, porcine stem cell factor, and human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.

Results: Cytokine therapy and leukapheresis were well tolerated. Cytokine therapy increased the total white blood cell count and allowed large numbers of leukocytes (60 x 1010) to be obtained by apheresis, of which approximately 0.1% were granulocyte-erythrocyte-monocyte-megakaryocyte colony-forming units (CFUGEMMs), which are considered to be representative of hematopoietic progenitors with multi-lineage potential.

Conclusions: The combination of cytokine therapy and leukapheresis enables hematopoietic progenitor cells to be obtained safely from miniature swine.

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Transplantation Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston 2: Biotransplant Inc., Charlestown, Massachusetts

Publication date: 01 December 1999

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  • Comparative Medicine (CM), an international journal of comparative and experimental medicine, is the leading English-language publication in the field and is ranked by the Science Citation Index in the upper third of all scientific journals. The mission of CM is to disseminate high-quality, peer-reviewed information that expands biomedical knowledge and promotes human and animal health through the study of laboratory animal disease, animal models of disease, and basic biologic mechanisms related to disease in people and animals.

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