The present invention relates to methods, kits and compositions for expansion of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and providing hematopoietic function to human patients in need thereof. In one aspect, it relates to kits and compositions comprising a Notch agonist and an aryl hydrocarbon receptor antagonist. Also provided herein are methods for expanding the hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells using kits and compositions comprising a Notch agonist and an aryl hydrocarbon receptor antagonist. The hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells expanded using the disclosed kits, compositions and methods include human umbilical cord blood stem/progenitor cells, placental cord blood stem/progenitor cells and peripheral blood stem cells. The present invention also relates to administering hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells expanded using a combination of a Notch agonist and an aryl hydrocarbon receptor antagonist to a patient for short-term and/or long-term in vivo repopulation benefits.

The present disclosure provides methods for generating megakaryocytes and novel platelet variants from the same CD34+ progenitor stem cells, which comprises at least two stages: stage zero (0) comprising an expansion and maintenance stage of the CD34+ progenitor stem cells for a period ranging between 0 hours to 48 hours; and, stage one (I) comprising a differentiation phase wherein the differentiation phase comprises differentiating the CD34+ progenitor stem cells in step (i) for a period sufficient to generate substantially matured megakaryocytes. Novel platelet variants are produced by passaging the megakaryocytes, produced by the CD34+ progenitor stem cells, through a bioreactor or a fluidic device. Formulations comprising megakaryocytes and platelet variants derived from CD34+ progenitor stem cells and methods of their use are also disclosed.

There is described herein a method of enriching a population of stem cells for hematopoietic progenitors. The method comprises inducing hematopoietic differentiation in a population of human embryonic stem cells or human induced pluripotent stem cells; sorting the population based on expression of CD43 and at least one of CD34, CD31 and CD144; and selecting a fraction that is at least one of CD34+CD43−, CD31+CD43− and CD144+CD43−. Also provided are populations of hematopoietic progenitors obtained by the methods described herein.

The present invention relates to a method for in vitro expansion of mature erythroid cells. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for obtaining concentrated erythrocytes by culturing erythroid cells at high density so as to allow the cells to physically and directly come in contact with each other. Particularly, the method of the present invention is very useful in that it is possible to obtain a large amount of clinically useful concentrated erythrocytes through a small container such as a test tube-sized bioreactor.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a method for producing stem cells including: preparing somatic cells; preparing a chimeric virus including a virus-derived genomic RNA harboring an inducer RNA that induces somatic cells into stem cells and a virus-derived envelope surrounding the genomic RNA, wherein the genomic RNA and the envelope are derived from different viruses; and introducing the inducer RNA into the somatic cells using the chimeric virus.

The present invention relates to the in vitro production of erythrocytes/granulocytes and to the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome using a method for inducing hemoblast differentiation. The present invention provides a media composition comprising gelsolin as an active ingredient for inducing the differentiation of hematopoietic precursor cells into erythrocytes/granulocytes, and a pharmaceutical composition comprising gelsolin as an active ingredient for treating myelodysplastic syndrome. Since the composition of the present invention improves the efficiency of differentiation of hematopoietic precursor cells into erythrocytes/granulocytes while maintaining a low rate of occurrence of cell dysplasia and having the effect of improving the enucleation rate and cell survivability, the present invention can be effectively used for producing erythrocytes/granulocytes in vitro and for treating myelodysplastic syndrome.

Alveolar-like macrophages and a method for generating alveolar-like macrophages from hemangioblasts is provided. The method comprises the steps of: i) culturing the hemangioblasts in a hematopoietic-inducing medium comprising vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), stem cell factor (SCF) and interleukin-3 (IL-3) for a sufficient period of time to generate macrophages, and ii) culturing the macrophages in an alveolar macrophage-inducing medium comprising granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and optionally macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), under suitable conditions and for a sufficient period of time to yield alveolar-like macrophages.

The present invention relates to the development and manufacturing of viral vaccines. In particular, the invention relates to the field of industrial production of viral vectors and vaccines, more in particular to the use of avian embryonic stem cells, preferably the EBx® cell line derived from duck embryonic stem cells, for the production of viral vectors and viruses. The invention is particularly useful for the industrial production of viral vaccines to prevent viral infection of humans and animals.

The present description relates to in vitro methods for culturing hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) under mild hyperthermia conditions (e.g., between 38° C. and 40° C.) in the presence of a pyrimidoindole derivative agonist of hematopoietic stem cell expansion. The combined use of mild hyperthermia and the pyrimidoindole derivative act synergistically to promote expansion of CD34+ HSCs and/or differentiation into progenitor cells (e.g., megakaryocytic progenitors). The present description also relates to in vitro expanded cell populations of HSCs and/or progenitors, as well as uses thereof in therapy (e.g., transplantation).

The present invention provides a method for efficiently inducing CD8-positive T cells by adding vitamin C to the medium in the steps of induction of the CD8-positive T cells from pluripotent stem cells. The present invention also provides a method for efficiently inducing CD8-positive T cells by performing culture in a medium supplemented with an adrenocortical hormone agent in the step of induction of the CD8-positive T cells from CD4/CD8 double-positive T cells.