B2: Interactive niches of hematopoietic stem cells modulated by biofunctional polymer matrices

Project leaders: Prof. Dr. Martin Bornhäuser, Prof. Dr. C. Werner

One aim of this project is to study in detail the in-vivo location of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) niches in relation to extracellular matrix (ECM) provided by mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) and/or osteoblast like cells in the subendosteal region. The information of these diagnostic studies together with the screening results of the first funding period will be used to systematically screen mesenchymal reporter cell lines for the effects of an array of surface preparations coated with ECM in a combinatorial way. The long-term perspective of the project is the development of engineered biomaterials which allow the long-term and repetitive expansion of multipotent HSC on an optimized stromal cell-based feeder layer.