The CXCL12-3′A allele is associated with a higher mobilization yield of CD34 progenitors to the peripheral blood of healthy donors for allogeneic transplantation

The interaction between CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 plays a crucial role in the homing and mobilization of haematopoietic progenitors. We investigated the putative association between a CXCL12 gene polymorphism, the G --> A transition at position 801 in the 3'-untranslated region (3'UTR), and the yield of CD34(+) progenitors in 65 healthy allogeneic transplant donors who received G-CSF. Importantly, in this setting, the analysis was not biased by background disease or chemotherapy. The 3'UTR CXCL12 G801A polymorphism was detected using a PCR-RFLP technique with the MspI restriction enzyme and the frequency of CD34(+) progenitors was assessed by flow cytometry. The frequency as well as the number of CD34(+) progenitor cells in the first leukapheresis product was significantly higher from donors with the CXCL12-3'A allele compared to GG homozygotes (P<0.05 in both cases), especially for subjects with the CXCL12-3'AA homozygous genotype (P<0.01 in both cases). Moreover, more leukaphereses were needed to obtain the required number of CD34(+) progenitors for transplantation from CXCL12-3'GG homozygous donors compared to the CXCL12-3'A carriers (P = 0.003). In conclusion, the CXCL12-3'A allele was associated with a higher yield of CD34(+) cells from healthy donors of PBPC for allogeneic haematopoietic SCT. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2009) 44, 273-278; doi: 10.1038/bmt.2009.30; published online 2 March 2009