Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Advanced Pharmaceutical Bulletin 2228-5881 11 2 2021 02 27 Humanized Culture Medium for Clinical-Grade Generation of Erythroid Cells from Umbilical Cord Blood CD34+ Cells 335 342 10.34172/apb.2021.031 EN Majid Zamani https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-2348 Yoda Yaghoubi Adel Naimi Ali Hassanzadeh Ramin Pourakbari Leili Aghebati-Maleki Roza Motavalli Afsoon Aghlmandi Amir Mehdizadeh Mehdi Nazari Mehdi Yousefi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0099-6728 Ali Akbar Movassaghpour https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6990-9269 Journal Article 10.34172/apb.2021.031 2020 01 21 2020 02 29 Purpose: Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) is a supportive and common treatment in surgical care, trauma, and anemia. However, in vivo production of RBC seems to be a suitable alternative for blood transfusions due to the limitation of blood resources, the possibility of disease transmission, immune reactions, and the presence of rare blood groups. Cell cultures require serum-free or culture media supplemented with highly expensive animal serum, which can transmit xenoviruses. Platelet lysate (PL) can be considered as a suitable alternative containing a high level of growth factors and a low production cost. Methods: Three-step culture media supplemented with PL or fetal bovine serum (FBS) were used for proliferation and differentiation of CD34+ umbilical cord blood stem cells to erythrocytes in co-culture with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). The cells were cultivated for 15 days and cell proliferation and expansion were assessed using cell counts at different days. Erythroid differentiation genes, CD71 and glycophorin A expression levels were evaluated. Results: Maximum hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) proliferation was observed on day 15 in PL-containing medium (99±17×103 -fold). Gene expression and surface markers showed higher differentiation of cells in PL-containing medium. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that PL can enhance erythroid proliferation and differentiation of CD34+ HSCs. PL can also be used as a proper alternative for FBS in the culture medium and HSCs differentiation.