A novel 37-Kd adhesive membrane protein from cloned murine bone marrow stromal cells and cloned murine hematopoietic progenitor cells

The adhesion of hematopoietic progenitor cells to bone marrow stromal cells is critical to hematopoiesis and involves multiple effector molecules. Stromal cell molecules that participate in this interaction were sought by analyzing the detergent-soluble membrane proteins of GBI/6 stromal cells that could be adsorbed by intact FDCP-1 progenitor cells. A single-chain protein from GBI/6 cells having an apparent molecular weight of 37 Kd was selectively adsorbed by FDCP-1 cells. This protein, designated p37, could be surface-radiolabeled and thus appeared to be exposed on the cell membrane. An apparently identical 37- Kd protein was expressed by three stromal cell lines, by Swiss 3T3 fibroblastic cells, and by FDCP-1 and FDCP-2 progenitor cells. p37 was selectively adsorbed from membrane lysates by a variety of murine hematopoietic cells, including erythrocytes, but not by human erythrocytes. Binding of p37 to cells was calcium-dependent, and was not affected by inhibitors of the hematopoietic homing receptor or the cell-binding or heparin-binding functions of fibronectin. It is proposed that p37 may be a novel adhesive molecule expressed on the surface of a variety of hematopoietic cells that could participate in both homotypic and heterotypic interactions of stromal and progenitor cells.     

Differential expression of interleukin 1 alpha by Thy-1+ and Thy-1- lung fibroblast subpopulations: enhancement of interleukin 1 alpha production by tumor necrosis factor-alpha

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether subpopulations of murine lung fibroblasts produced interleukin 1 (IL 1). We previously identified two major populations of pulmonary fibroblasts based on the presence or absence of Thy-1. Thy-1+ and Thy-1- subsets synthesize fibronectin and type I and III collagen, but only the Thy-1- population displays class II major histocompatibility complex antigens after stimulation with interferon-gamma and presents antigen to T helper clones. Interestingly, in the current study we determined that only Thy-1- fibroblast lines and clones synthesized IL 1. Although constitutive production was low, tumor necrosis factor -alpha (TNF-alpha) stimulated 5-20-fold increases in IL 1 production in Thy-1- fibroblasts. The Thy-1+ fibroblasts did not produce IL 1 even after TNF-alpha treatment. Northern blot analysis of TNF-alpha treated cells revealed that in the Thy-1- subset increased mRNA levels for IL 1 alpha were detected, while IL 1 beta mRNA was not detected. Furthermore, IL 1 activity from TNF-alpha-treated Thy-1- fibroblast membranes and supernatants was completely neutralized by IL 1 alpha-specific antibodies. These observations support the hypothesis that the antigen-presenting Thy-1- subset is important for promoting the inflammation associated with pulmonary fibrosis. In addition, the existence of functional subsets of lung fibroblasts is further substantiated by differential expression of IL 1.     

The effects of co-culture with human fibroblasts on human embryo development in vitro and implantation

In a human in-vitro fertilization (IVF) programme, the effect of co- culture of embryos with human fibroblasts was evaluated with respect to pregnancy rate and embryo development. Patients were included in the study after giving informed written consent. The IVF treatments were randomly assigned by stratification of both age (<36 versus > or =36 years) and previous IVF attempts (yes versus no). After fertilization was established, the zygotes were transferred to a 4-well dish with or without fibroblasts and cultured for 2 days. On the third day after ovum pick-up (OPU), cell number and quality [5 (good) to 1 (poor)] of the embryos were scored and a maximum of three embryos was transferred. Supernumerary embryos of good quality were cryopreserved. The design of this study was a group sequential trial with the objective of detecting differences between pregnancy rates following IVF with conventional incubation or incubation in co-culture with fibroblasts. This design included one evaluation at half-way data collection. In the study, 148 patients had an OPU, of whom 77 were allocated to the co-culture group. There was no statistically significant difference in pregnancy rate, cell number and embryo quality between the two groups. The ongoing pregnancy rate per embryo transfer was 27% in co-culture and 30% in the conventional culture group. The implantation rates per transferred embryo were 17 and 18% respectively. Using a multivariate logistic regression model for the probability of ongoing pregnancies, the odds ratio of co-culture, adjusted for age and previous IVF attempts, was not statistically significant. In conclusion, co-culture with human fibroblasts does not contribute to an improvement of embryo quality nor to a higher pregnancy rate after IVF in an unselected group of patients.