Characterization of Megakaryocyte Progenitor Cells Differentiated from Umbilical Cord Blood CD133+ and CD133- Cells

Objective: thisstudywas performed todeterminetheimmunophenotypeof megakaryocyte progenitor cells differentiated from ucb cd133+and cd133- cells under the effects of interleukin-3 (il-3), interleukin-6(il-6), stem cell factor (scf) and thrombopoietin (tpo) in vitro.materials and methods: cd133+and cd133- cells were isolated byusing cd133 isolation kit following the manufacturer's instructions.then, they were seeded in liquid serum free expansion mediumssupplemented with the cytokine cocktail including il-3, il-6, scf andtpo. the expression rate of cd34, cd41, cd61 and cd42b weremeasured on the days aand 7 of culture using flow cytometry. student'st-test was used for the comparisons and a p value less than 0.05 wasconsidered to be significant.results: expressions of megakaryocytic markers on cd133+ cells werealways higher than cd133- cells. cd133+ cells have higher potential ofgenerating mk colonies in vitro.conclusion: cd133+subset may be used as an alternative source formk progenitor cells production and these cells may improve plateletrecovery after ucb transplantation.