Transcriptomic profiling of 27-year cryopreserved umbilical cord blood HSCs/HPCs

Umbilical cord blood banking is critical for the success of umbilical cord blood transplants. Here we analyzed transcriptomic differences between 27-year cryopreserved umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and multipotent progenitor cells (MPPs) and those derived from fresh cord blood. We also leveraged differences in engraftment capacity to examine the transcriptomes of HSCs/HPCs defined by engraftment capacity, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach for identifying potency markers to aid in the selection of cord blood units for transplantation and revealing novel potential regulators of cord blood HSC/HPC engraftment. Stringently defined HSCs or MPPs were collected by flow cytometry sorting from 27-year cryopreserved cord blood units following thaw. HSCs/MPPs were also collected from fresh cord blood units to analyzed transcriptomic changes induced by cryopreservation and freeze-thaw. CD34+ cells, a population enriched in HSCs/HPCs, were transplanted to immune deficient mice for calculation of SCID repopulating cell frequency, and high SRC units were compared to low SRC units in the transcriptomic analysis model.