| Summary: | Protocols for isolation, characterization, and transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been well established. However, difficulty in finding human leucocyte antigens (HLA)-matched donors and scarcity of HSCs are still the major obstacles of allogeneic transplantation. In this study, we developed a double-layered microcapsule to deliver paracrine factors from non-matched or low-matched HSCs to other cells. The umbilical cord blood-derived hematopoietic progenitor cells, identified as CD34<sup>+</sup> cells, were entrapped in alginate polymer and further protected by chitosan coating. The microcapsules showed no toxicity for surrounding CD34<sup>+</sup> cells. When CD34<sup>+</sup> cells-loaded microcapsules were co-cultured with bare CD34<sup>+</sup> cells that have been collected from unrelated donors, the microcapsules affected surrounding cells and increased the percentage of CD34<sup>+</sup> cell population. This study is the first to report the potency of alginate-chitosan microcapsules containing non-HLA-matched cells for improving proliferation and progenitor maintenance of CD34<sup>+</sup> cells.
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