Study and culture of haematopoietic progenitor cells from peripheral blood in rats, hamsters and mice

The aim of this work was to isolate and cultivate a subpopulation of pluripotent stem cells present in peripheral blood of different animal species, frequently used in laboratory studies (mice, rats and hamsters). Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), already described in human beings, are fibroblast-like cells that exhibit a CD34 marker, specific for haematopoietic stem cells. Commonly used human commercial media were investigated for culturing animal PSCs. These findings suggest that this simple and standardized methodology may be applicable in several fields such as the study of the pharmacological effects of drugs on the haematopoietic line and the study of new strategies in cellular therapy for some human diseases.