Summary:Umbilical cord blood (UCB), bone marrow (BM) and mobilized peripheral blood (mPB) are used as sources of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation. The NOD/SCID mouse model was used to compare the lineage-specific repopulating potential of CD34 + cells derived from these sources. Six to 8 weeks after transplantation, blood, BM, spleen, liver and thymus, were harvested, and analyzed by flow cytometry using CD34, CD45, myeloid, and lymphoid lineage-specific antibodies. Fifty percent engraftment of human cells in bone marrow of mice was estimated to be reached with 0.55 × 10 6 CD34 + UCB cells or with 7.9 × 10 6 CD34 + cells from adult sources, illustrating a 10-fold superiority of UCB CD34 + cells to engraft NOD/SCID mice. Lineagespecific characterization of engrafted human cells showed that the high engraftment potential of CD34 + cells from UCB was due to a preferential B cell development (2-81%). In contrast, comparable percentages of myeloid cells were found following transplantation of CD34 + cells from UCB, BM and mPB (1-38%), and occurred at significant levels only at relatively high doses. Since the CD34 content of UCB transplants is usually at least one log lower than of transplant from adult sources, these results correspond to the clinical findings with UCB transplantation showing a relatively high overall engraftment, but delayed myeloid recovery. blood (mPB), and umbilical cord blood (UCB). The HPC source used for an individual patient may depend on the availability of the graft, the disease and the age of the patient, and the risks of complications after the transplant. For instance, transplantation with a mPB graft has been shown to result in more rapid recovery of granulocytes and platelets than BM transplantation, but is associated with a higher incidence of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). [2][3][4] In contrast, UCB transplantations have been reported to be accompanied by a relatively low incidence and severity of GVHD, but are associated with delayed hematopoietic recovery. 5,6 In part, the relatively slow speed of engraftment following UCB transplantation is thought to be due to the limited numbers of HSC that can be transplanted. The limited volume of UCB that can be obtained from a single harvest results in a graft usually containing at least one log fewer CD34 + cells than a BM graft. 6,7 However, qualitative differences in the CD34 + cell fraction from the various sources of HSC may also influence the recovery after transplantation. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] The CD34 + CD38 Ϫ cell population from UCB, containing the most primitive cells essential for engraftment, showed a higher cloning efficiency, proliferated more rapidly in response to cytokine stimulation and generated more progeny than the CD34 + CD38 Ϫ cells from BM counterparts. 8 In part, the higher proliferative potential of primitive cells from UCB may be ascribed to their ability to leave the dormant state more rapidly than their BM counterparts. 14 In vivo functional differences among human stem cells from s...