Bone marrow CD34 positive cells may be suitable for collection after death.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) which are characterized with CD34+ phenotype, have a pivotal role in blood cell regeneration. They are located in lowest hypoxic areas in the bone marrow niches. This microenvironment protects them from DNA damage and excessive proliferation, whereas the oxygenated area driving cells out of quiescent state into proliferation. Given the resistance of HSCs to hypoxia, it is reasonable to imagine that they can survive for some time in the absence of oxygen. Here, we evaluated CD34, Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and p53 genes expression after death. Moreover, we established the ex-vivo development of HSCs using SCF, FLT3, IL-2, and IL-15 cytokines in culture system. Our finding indicated that although the most of the dead person's mononuclear cells were alive and adequately expressed the CD34 on their surfaces at the first day of isolation, the viability and CD34+/Ki-67 expression declined significantly after culture process. Taken together, our finding indicated that the viability and CD34+ expression was acceptable on day 0 and could be used as a novel method for therapeutic purposes.