Research to boost stem cell production

A Melbourne researcher is working to boost the number of stem cells drawn from umbilical cord blood, offering hope for easier bone marrow transplants.

The work has the potential to help people who require bone marrow transplants but struggle to find an exact match.

Associate Professor Louise Purton from St Vincent's Institute in Melbourne will use compounds derived from vitamin A to increase the number and quality of cord blood stem cells.

Stem cells from cord blood are becoming increasing popular for bone marrow transplants around the world.

But often there are not enough stem cells from a single unit for a successful transplant for an adult, although some patients are infused with two unrelated cord blood units with varying degrees of success.

Cord blood cells can be slow to mature into platelets and red and white blood cells, which can leave the patient exposed to a greater risk of infection.

Donor, or allogeneic, cord blood also carries the risk of graft versus host disease, where the recipient's immune system responds to the foreign cells by attacking the body's organs.

Assoc Prof Purton has proven her method works in mice and will now move to test the compounds on human cord blood.

'One of the goals in the (research) community is to increase the number of stem cells for transplant, but also to improve the recovery of the mature blood cells after transplant,' Assoc Prof Purton told AAP.

'One of the ways we think we might be able to do it is to grow them up in culture outside the body before giving the patient the transplant,' she said.

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Research to boost stem cell production