FLT3/FLK2 ligand promotes the growth of murine stem cells and the expansion of colony-forming cells and spleen colony-forming units

The effect of FLT3/FLK2 ligand (FL) on the growth of primitive hematopoietic cells was investigated using ThyloSca1+ stem cells. FL was observed to interact with a variety of factors to initiate colony formation by stem cells. When stem cells were stimulated in liquid culture with FL plus interleukin (IL)-3, IL-6, granulocyte colony- stimulating factor (G-CSF), or stem cell factor (SCF), cells capable of forming colonies in secondary methylcellulose cultures (CFU-c) were produced in high numbers. However, only FL plus IL-6 supported an increase in the number of cells capable of forming colonies in the spleens of irradiated mice (CFU-s). Experiments with accessory cell- depleted bone marrow (Lin- BM) showed that FL alone lacks significant colony-stimulating activity for progenitor cells. Nevertheless, FL enhanced the growth of granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (CFU-GM) in cultures containing SCF, G-CSF, IL-6, or IL-11. In these assays, FL increased the number of CFU-GM initiating colony formation (recruitment), as well as the number of cells per colony (synergy). Many of the colonies were macroscopic and contained greater than 2 x 10(4) granulocytes and macrophages. Therefore, FL appears to function as a potent costimulus for primitive cells of high proliferative potential (HPP). FL was also observed to costimulate the expansion of CFU-GM in liquid cultures of Lin- BM. In contrast, FL had no growth- promoting affects on progenitors committed to the erythrocyte, megakaryocyte, eosinophil, or mast cell lineages.     

Human FLT3 ligand acts on myeloid as well as multipotential progenitors derived from purified CD34+ blood progenitors expressing different levels of c-kit protein

Abstract: We studied the effect of human flt3/flk2 ligand (FL) on the proliferation and differentiation of purified CD34⁺ blood progenitors which express different levels of c-kit protein in clonal cell culture in comparison with that of stem cell factor (SCF). FL alone did not support significant colony formation. However, FL significantly enhanced neutrophil colony (CFU–G) formation in the presence of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G–CSF) by peripheral blood (PB)-derived CD34⁺c-kit^? cells which contained a large number of CFU–G. In addition, FL could synergistically increase the number of CFU–G supported by a combination of interleukin (IL)-3 and G–CSF, as did SCF. As we reported previously, SCF showed a significant burst-promoting activity (BPA). In contrast, FL did not exhibit any BPA on PB-derived CD34⁺c-kit^high cells in which erythroid-burst (BFU-E) was highly enriched. However, FL could synergize with IL-3 or GM–CSF in support of erythrocyte-containing mixed (E-Mix) colony by PB-derived CD34⁺c-kit^{high or low} cells in the presence of Epo. Replating of E-Mix colonies derived from CD34⁺c-kit^high cells supported by IL-3+Epo+SCF yielded more secondary colonies than those supported by IL-3+Epo or IL-3+Epo+FL. When PB-derived CD34⁺c-kit^low cells which represent a more immature population than CD34⁺c-kit^high cells were used as the target, number of secondary colonies supported by IL-3+Epo, IL-3+Epo+SCF or IL-3+Epo+FL was comparable. However, the number of lineages expressed in the secondary culture was significantly larger in the primary culture containing IL-3+Epo+FL than in that containing IL-3+Epo. These results suggest that FL not only acts on neutrophilic progenitors, but also on more immature multipotential progenitors.     

Long-term generation of colony-forming cells in liquid culture of CD34+ cord blood cells in the presence of recombinant human stem cell factor

Human cord blood was used as a source of progenitor and stem cells to evaluate the effect of recombinant human stem-cell factor (SCF) on colony formation and the generation of colony-forming cells (CFC) under highly defined, serum-deprived conditions. SCF interacted with a number of hematopoietic growth factors to stimulate colony growth and was particularly effective in stimulating the formation of mixed-cell colonies from CD34+ soybean agglutinin negative (SBA-) cells. In suspension culture of CD34+, SBA- cells, SCF alone was unable to maintain cell numbers or CFC but, in combination with interleukin-3 (IL- 3), increased input numbers of cells by 10-fold and increased CFC of all kinds by nearly 20-fold. This included erythroid burst-forming cells (BFU-E), granulocyte/macrophage (GM) CFC, and mixed-cell CFC. In contrast, CD34- SBA- cells neither gave rise to CFC nor were maintained by combinations of growth factors including SCF. SCF interacted with erythropoietin (Epo) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to maintain large numbers of cells as well as to generate a twofold to threefold increase in CFC in the case of Epo, and a 10-fold increase in CFC in the case of G-CSF. With Epo, the predominant CFC generated were BFU-E and erythroid CFC and many of the cells in suspension were erythroblasts. In contrast, SCF plus G-CSF resulted in large numbers of granulocytes at various stages of maturation and the CFC generated were almost exclusively granulocytic-CFC. IL-1 and IL-6, alone or in combination with SCF, showed little or no ability to increase cell numbers or generate CFC. In summary, SCF interacts with a variety of hematopoietic growth factors to promote colony formation, particularly mixed-cell colony formation, and also, in suspension culture, SCF interacts with IL-3, G-CSF, and Epo to generate large numbers of differentiated cells as well as a variety of CFC for up to 1 month.     

Action of human interleukin-4 and stem cell factor on erythroid and mixed colony formation by peripheral blood-derived CD34+c-kithigh or CD34+c-kitlow cells

We studied the interaction of interleukin (IL)-4 and other burst-promoting activity (BPA) factors, such as IL-3, granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-9 and stem cell factor (SCF), on erythroid burst-forming unit (BFU-E) and erythrocyte-containing mixed (CFU-Mix) colony formation in serum-free culture. IL-4 alone did not support mixed colony formation in the presence of erythropoietin (Epo). However, IL-4 showed weak but significant BPA when peripheral blood (PB)-derived CD34⁺c-kit^low cells were used as the target population. The BPA of IL-4 was much weaker than that of IL-3, which exerted the most potent activity, as previously reported. When CD34⁺c-kit^high cells were used as the target, four factors known to have BPA, IL-3, GM-CSF, IL-9 and SCF, could express BPA. In contrast, IL-4 alone failed to support erythroid burst formation. Interestingly, IL-4 showed a remarkable enhancing effect with SCF in promoting the development of erythroid burst and erythrocyte-containing mixed colonies from CD34⁺c-kit^low and CD34⁺c-kit^high cells. Delayed addition of SCF + Epo or IL-4+Epo to the cultures initiated with either IL-4 or SCF alone clearly demonstrated that SCF was a survival factor for both BFU-E and CFU-Mix progenitors. In contrast, the survival effect of IL-4 was much weaker than that of SCF, and appeared to be more important for progenitors derived from CD34⁺c-kit^low cells than for those derived from CD34⁺c-kit^high cells. It was recently reported that CD34⁺c-kit^low cells represent a more primitive population than CD34⁺c-kit^high cells. Taken together, these results suggest that IL-4 helps to recruit primitive progenitor cells in the presence of SCF.     

Porcine brain microvascular endothelial cells support the in vitro expansion of human primitive hematopoietic bone marrow progenitor cells with a high replating potential: requirement for cell-to-cell interactions and colony-stimulating factors

Primary autologous as well as allogeneic and xenogeneic stroma will support human stem cell proliferation and differentiation for several months. In the present study, we investigated the capacity of porcine microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) together with combinations of cytokines (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF] + stem factor [SCF], interleukin-3 [IL-3] + SCF + IL-6, and GM-CSF + IL-3 + SCF + IL-6) to support the expansion and development of purified human CD34+ bone marrow cells. In short-term cultures (7 days), the greatest expansion of nonadherent hematopoietic cells and clonogenic progenitors was seen with CD34+ cells in direct contact with PMVEC monolayers (PMVEC contact), followed by PMVEC noncontact and liquid suspension cultures, respectively. Maximal expansion of nonadherent cells (42-fold) and total CD34+ cells (12.6-fold) occurred in PMVEC contact cultures treated with GM-CSF + IL-3 + SCF + IL-6, with similar increases in the number of granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM), CFU-mix, erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E), CFU-blast and CFU-megakaryocyte (CFU-Mk) progenitor cells. Moreover, the number of CD34+ CD38- and CD34+ CD38+ cells increased 148.1-fold and 8.0-fold, respectively. Replating studies show that cells from day 7 dispersed blast cell colonies generated on cytokine-treated PMVEC monolayers have a high replating potential for multilineage progenitor cells. In long- term PMVEC contact cultures, CD34+ cells seeded onto PMVEC monolayers with GM-CSF + IL-3 + SCF + IL-6 showed a total calculated expansion of over 5,000,000-fold of nonadherent cells over 35 days in culture. Maximal clonogenic cell production was observed at day 28, with 6,353- fold for total CFC and comparable increases for CFU-GM, CFU-mix, CFU- blast, BFU-E, and CFU-Mk. The total number of CD34+ cells increased 2,584-fold at day 28. Furthermore, the extended growth kinetics of these cultures indicates that these phenotypically primitive progenitor cells are also functionally expanded on PMVEC monolayers. These results support the hypothesis that direct contact with a PMVEC monolayer supports the initial expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells with a high replating potential and, possibly, a more primitive phenotype (CD34+, CD34+/CD38-).     

In vitro growth of human fetal CD34+ cells in the presence of various combinations of recombinant cytokines under serum-free culture conditions

Summary. CD34⁺ cells were purified from midtrimester human fetal blood and adult bone marrow samples and seeded in serum-free fibrin-clot cultures in order to evaluate the number and the responsiveness to recombinant cytokines of pluripotent (CFU-GEMM), erythroid (BFU-E), megakaryocyte (BFU-meg and CFU-meg) and granulocyte/macrophage (CFU-GM) haemopoietic progenitor cells.
The number of the different haemopoietic progenitors/1 × 10³ CD34⁺ cells, except CFU-meg, was significantly higher in fetal blood than in adult bone marrow in cultures stimulated by any combination of cytokines including interleukin-3 (IL-3), granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or stem cell factor (SCF) plus erythropoietin (Epo). Nevertheless, whereas adult BFU-E showed a maximal growth in the presence of Epo plus IL-3 or Epo plus SCF, fetal BFU-E showed an optimal growth in the presence of Epo alone, the sensitivity of fetal BFU-E to suboptimal concentrations of Epo being approximately 10–15-fold higher than that of adult BFU-E. Addition of optimal concentrations of IL-3, GM-CSF or SCF, alone or in various combinations, to Epocontaining cultures induced a significant increase in both the number and size of fetal CFU-GEMM, and CFU-GM, and a parallel decrease of fetal BFU-E. Finally, SCF potently syner-gized with IL-3 in increasing the growth of both classes of fetal megakaryocyte progenitors, BFU-meg and CFU-meg.     

Haematopoietic action of flt3 ligand on cord blood-derived CD34-positive cells expressing different levels of flt3 or c-kit tyrosine kinase receptor: comparison with stem cell factor

We compared the effect of human flt3 ligand (FL) and stem cell factor (SCF) on cord blood (CB)-derived CD34+ cells expressing different levels of flt3 or c-kit tyrosine kinase (TK) receptor in clonal cell culture. The c-kit receptor was expressed by 58.5±16.7% of CB CD34+ cells (n = 19), in which c-kit^high, c-kit^low and c-kit^- cell populations could be identified. In contrast, the flt3 receptor (FR) was weakly expressed on 58.6±8.3% (n = 9) of CB CD34+ cells. FL+erythropoietin (Epo) failed to support erythroid burst (BFU–E) formation by any subpopulation of CD34+ cells. However, SCF+Epo supported BFU–E and erythrocyte-containing mixed (CFU–mix) colony formation from all subpopulations. Interestingly, FL markedly augmented CFU–mix colony formation supported by interleukin (IL)- 3+Epo when CD34+c-kit^low or CD34+FR+ cells were used as the target. On the other hand, SCF significantly enhanced CFU-mix colony formation supported by IL-3+Epo when CD34+c-kit^{high or low} and CD34+FR+ cells were used. The replating potential of CFU–mix supported by IL-3 + Epo + FL was greater when CD34+c-kit^low or CD34+FR+ cells were used. When the CD34+c-kit^low cells were used, the number of lineages expressed in secondary cultures of CFU–mix colonies derived from primary cultures containing IL-3 + Epo+FL or SCF was significantly larger than when the primary cultures contained IL-3+Epo. Furthermore, the number of long-term culture-initiating cells found in CD34+FR+ cells was larger than that in FR^- cells. CB-derived CD34+c-kit^low cells represent a less mature population than c-kit^high cells, as reported previously. Therefore, these results indicate that both FL and SCF can act on primitive multipotential progenitors. However, it is still uncertain whether CB-derived CD34+FR+ cells are less mature than CD34+FR^- cells.     

Erythropoietin-independent erythroid colony formation by bone marrow progenitors exposed to interleukin-11 and interleukin-8

OBJECTIVE: Endogenous erythroid colonies (EECs), formed in vitro without erythropoietin (EPo) or other exogenous cytokines, are characteristic of Polycythemia vera (PV). Our aim was to identify specific conditions of culture of bone marrow (BM) progenitors allowing formation of erythroid colonies without EPo. METHODS: BM mononuclear cells (BMMCs), purified CD34+ cells, and purified CD36+ erythroid progenitors were cultured in serum-free media without and with cytokines: EPo, stem cell factor (SCF), and interleukin (IL)-11 and IL-8, produced by BM stromal cells and found elevated in PV. RESULTS: EECs were formed in PV cultures of either BMMCs or CD34+ cells, which include cytokine-secreting cells, but not in cultures of purified CD36+ erythroid progenitors (EP). Despite expression of V617F JAK-2, no constitutive activation of JAK-2, Stat-5, or Erk-1/2 was detected in erythroblasts issued from PV CD36+ progenitors. However, when SCF was provided, PV CD36+ progenitors formed erythroid colonies without EPo. The ability to form erythroid colonies with SCF alone was conferred to BM progenitors of healthy donors and secondary erythrocytosis by exposure to IL-11 and IL-8. Both IL-11 and IL-8 enhanced formation of erythroid colonies in response to EPo and interfered with the activation of Erk-1/2 and Stat-5 induced, respectively, by SCF and EPo in erythroblasts. Anti-IL-11 antibody inhibited formation of erythroid colonies by PV BMMCs and CD34+ cells. CONCLUSION: The data indicate that PV erythroid progenitors remain cytokine-dependent and that normal BM progenitors exposed to IL-11 and IL-8 can acquire the ability to form erythroid colonies without EPo.     

Expansion of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor/chemotherapy-mobilized CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors: role of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor/erythropoietin hybrid protein (MEN11303) and interleukin-15

Ex vivo stroma-free static liquid cultures of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)/chemotherapy-mobilized CD34+ cells were established from patients with epithelial solid tumors. Different culture conditions were generated by adding G-CSF, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), Flt3 ligand (Flt3), megakaryocyte growth and development factor (Peg-rHuMGDF), GM-CSF/erythropoietin (EPO) hybrid protein (MEN11303), and interleukin-15 (IL-15) to the basic stem cell factor (SCF) + interleukin-3 (IL-3) + EPO combination. This study showed that, among the nine different combinations tested in our 5% autologous plasma-containing cultures, only those containing IL-3/SCF/Flt3/MEN11303 and IL-3/SCF/Flt3/MEN11303/IL-15 significantly expanded colony-forming unit granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM), burst-forming unit erythroid (BFU-E), long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-IC), CD34+, and CD34+/CD38- cells after 14 days of culture. Particularly, the addition of IL-15 to IL-3/SCF/Flt3/MEN11303 combination produced a significant increase of LTC-IC, with an average 26-fold amplification as compared to input cells, without any detrimental effect on CFU-GM and BFU-E expansion. This combination also produced a statistically significant 3.6-fold expansion of primitive CD34+/CD38- cells. Moreover, this study confirms the previously described erythropoietic effect of MEN11303, which, in our experience, was the only factor capable of expanding BFU-E. Compared to equimolar concentrations of GM-CSF and EPO, MEN11303 hybrid protein showed a significantly higher capacity of expanding CFU-GM, BFU-E, LTC-IC, CD34+, and CD34+/CD38- cells when these cytokines were tested in combination with IL-3/SCF/Flt3. These cultures indicated that Peg-rHuMGDF addition to IL-3/SCF/EPO/Flt3 does not affect CFU-GM and BFU-E expansion but, unlike G-CSF or GM-CSF, it does not decrease the ability of Flt3 to expand primitive LTC-IC. These studies indicate that, starting from G-CSF/chemotherapy-mobilized CD34+ cells, concomitant expansion of primitive LTC-IC, CFU-GM, BFU-E, CD34+, and CD34+/CD38- cells is feasible in simple stroma-free static liquid cultures, provided IL-3/SCF/Flt3/MEN11303/IL-15 combination is used as expanding cocktail in the presence of 5% autologous plasma.     

Thrombopoietin, but not erythropoietin, directly stimulates multilineage growth of primitive murine bone marrow progenitor cells in synergy with early acting cytokines: distinct interactions with the ligands for c-kit and FLT3

Thrombopoietin (Tpo), the ligand for c-mpl, has been shown to be the principal regulator of megakaryocytopoiesis and platelet production. The ability of Tpo to potently stimulate the growth of committed megakaryocyte (Mk) progenitor cells has been studied in detail. Murine fetal liver cells, highly enriched in primitive progenitors, have been shown to express c-mpl, but little is known about the ability of Tpo to stimulate the growth and differentiation of primitive multipotent bone marrow (BM) progenitor cells. Here, we show that Tpo alone and in combination with early acting cytokines can stimulate the growth and multilineage differentiation of Lin- Sca-1+ BM progenitor cells. In particular, Tpo potently synergized with the ligands for c-kit (stem cell factor [SCF]) and flt3 (FL) to stimulate an increase in the number and size of clones formed from Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors. When cells were plated at 1 cell per well, the synergistic effect of Tpo was observed both in fetal calf serum-supplemented and serum-depleted medium and was decreased if the addition of Tpo to cultures was delayed for as little as 24 hours, suggesting that Tpo is acting directly on the primitive progenitors. Tpo added to SCF + erythropoietin (Epo)-supplemented methylcellulose cultures potently enhanced the formation of multilineage colonies containing granulocytes, macrophages, erythrocytes, and Mks. SCF potently enhanced Tpo-stimulated production of high-ploidy Mks from Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors, whereas the increased growth response obtained when combining Tpo with FL did not translate into increased Mk production. The ability of Tpo and SCF to synergistically enhance the growth of Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors was predominantly observed in the more primitive rhodamine 123(lo) fraction. Tpo also enhanced growth of Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors when combined with interleukin-3 (IL-3) and IL-11 but not with IL-12, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony- stimulating factor, or Epo. Epo, which has high homology to Tpo, was unable to stimulate the growth of Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors alone or in combination with SCF or FL, suggesting that c-mpl is expressed on more primitive stages of progenitors than the Epo receptor. Thus, the present studies show the potent ability of Tpo to enhance the growth of primitive multipotent murine BM progenitors in combination with multiple early acting cytokines and documents its unique ability to synergize with SCF to enhance Mk production from such progenitors.     

Disparate regulation of human fetal erythropoiesis by the microenvironments of the liver and bone marrow

The liver and the bone marrow (BM) are the major organs that support hematopoiesis in the human fetus. Although both tissues contain the spectrum of hematopoietic cells, erythropoiesis dominates the liver. Previous studies suggested that a unique responsiveness of fetal burst-forming units erythroid (BFU-E) to erythropoietin (EPO) obviates the need for cytokines with burst-promoting activity (BPA) in fetal erythropoiesis. This potential regulatory mechanism whereby fetal erythropoiesis is enhanced was further investigated. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting was used to isolate liver and BM progenitors based on their levels of CD34 and CD38 expression. The most mature population of CD34+ lineage (Lin-) cells was also the most prevalent of the three subpopulations and contained BFU-E responsive to EPO alone under serum-deprived conditions. Kit ligand (KL) also strongly synergized with EPO in stimulating the growth of these BFU-E. An intermediate subset of CD34++CD38+Lin- cells contained erythroid progenitors responsive to EPO alone, but also displayed synergism between EPO and KL, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), or interleukin (IL)-3, demonstrating that erythroid progenitors that respond to cytokines with BPA do exist in fetal tissues as in the adult BM. Candidate stem cells (CD34++CD38-Lin- cells) did not respond to EPO. Synergisms among KL, GM-CSF, and IL-3, and to a lesser extent granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and FLK-2/FLT-3 ligand (FL), supported the growth of primitive multipotent progenitors that became responsive to EPO. These data define the limits of EPO activity in fetal erythropoiesis to cells that express CD38 and demonstrate the potential for various cytokine interactions to be involved in regulating fetal erythropoiesis. Furthermore, a comparison of the responses of liver and BM erythroid progenitors revealed similarity in their responses to cytokines but a difference in the frequency of BFU-E among the three subpopulations examined. A higher frequency of BFU-E among the intermediate and late progenitor subsets in the liver indicates that regulatory factors acting on stem cells and their immediate progeny are partially responsible for the high content of erythropoiesis in the liver. These data implicate a critical role for the microenvironments of the liver and BM in regulating the disparate levels of erythropoiesis in these tissues.     

FLK-2/FLT-3 ligand regulates the growth of early myeloid progenitors isolated from human fetal liver

The effects of the recently identified FLK-2/FLT-3 ligand (FL) on the growth of purified human fetal liver progenitors were investigated under serum-deprived culture conditions. FL alone was found to stimulate modest proliferation in short-term cultures of CD34++ CD38+ lineage (Lin)- light-density fetal liver (LDFL) cells and the more primitive CD34++ CD38- Lin- LDFL cells. However, the low levels of growth induced by FL were insufficient for colony formation in clonal cultures. Synergism between FL and either granulocyte-macrophage colony- stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-3 (IL-3) or KIT ligand (KL) was observed in promoting the growth of high-proliferative potential (HPP) colony-forming cells (CF) and/or low-proliferative potential (LPP)-CFC in cultures of CD34++ CD38+ Lin- and CD34++ CD38- Lin- LDFL- cells. FL, alone or in combination with other cytokines, was not found to affect the growth of CD34+ Lin- LDFL cells, the most mature subpopulation of fetal liver progenitors investigated. The growth of the most primitive subset of progenitors studied, CD34++ CD38- Lin- LDFL cells, required the interactions of at least two cytokines, because only very low levels of growth were observed in response to either FL, GM-CSF, IL-3 or KL alone. However, the results of delayed cytokine-addition experiments suggested that individually these cytokines did promote the survival of this early population of progenitors. Although two-factor combinations of FL, KL, and GM-CSF were observed to promote the growth of early progenitors in a synergistic manner, neither of these factors was found to make fetal liver progenitors more responsive to suboptimal concentrations of a second cytokine. Only myeloid cells were recovered from liquid cultures of CD34++ CD38- Lin- LDFL cells grown in the presence of combinations of FL, KL, and GM-CSF. These results indicate that FL is part of a network of growth factors that regulate the growth and survival of early hematopoietic progenitors.     

Direct growth suppression of myeloid bone marrow progenitor cells but not cord blood progenitors by human cytomegalovirus in vitro

Recently, considerable interest has arisen as to use cord blood (CB) as a source of hematopoietic stem cells for allogenic transplantation when bone marrow (BM) from a familial HLA-matched donor is not available. Because human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of BM progenitors in vitro, it was important to examine whether similar effect could be observed in HCMV-infected CB cells. Therefore, the effect of HCMV challenge on the proliferation of myeloid progenitors from BM and CB was compared using both mononuclear cells (MNC) and purified CD34+ cells. A clinical isolate of HCMV inhibited the colony formation of myeloid BM progenitors responsive to granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF), granulocyte- CSF, macrophage-CSF, interleukin-3 (IL-3) and the combination of IL-3 and stem cell factor (SCF). In contrast, colony growth of CB progenitors was not affected. In addition, HCMV inhibited directly the growth of purified BM CD34+ cells responsive to IL-3 and SCF in single cell assay by 40%, wheras the growth of CD34+ progenitors obtained from CB was not suppressed. The HCMV lower matrix structural protein pp65 and HCMV DNA were detected in both CB and BM CD34+ cells after in vitro challenge. However, neither immediate early (IE)-mRNA nor IE proteins were observed in infected cells. Cell cyclus examination of BM and CB CD34+ cells revealed that 25.7% of BM progenitors were in S + G2/ M phase wheras only 10.7% of the CB progenitors. Thus, a clinical isolate of HCMV directly inhibited the proliferation of myeloid BM progenitors in vitro wheras CB progenitors were not affected. This difference in the susceptibility of CB and BM cells to HCMV may partly be caused by the slow cycling rate of naive CB progenitors compared to BM progenitors at the time of infection.     

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), a potent inhibitor of erythropoiesis: neutralizing TGF-beta antibodies show erythropoietin as a potent stimulator of murine burst-forming unit erythroid colony formation in the absence of a burst-promoting activity

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) is a bifunctional regulator of the growth of myeloid progenitors and is here demonstrated to directly inhibit the growth of primitive erythroid progenitors by 95% to 100% regardless of the cytokines stimulating growth. Autocrine TGF- beta production of primitive hematopoietic progenitors has previously been reported. In the present study, a neutralizing TGF-beta antibody (anti-TGF-beta) added to serum-containing cultures, resulted in a 3-, 4- , and 25-fold increase in burst-forming unit erythroid (BFU-E) colony formation in response to interleukin-4 (IL-4) plus erythropoietin (Epo), SCF plus Epo, and IL-11 plus Epo, respectively. The growth of BFU-E progenitors has been suggested to require a burst-promoting activity in addition to Epo. Accordingly, we observed no BFU-E colony formation in serum-containing cultures in response to Epo alone. In contrast, 50 BFU-E colonies were formed when anti-TGF-beta was included in the culture. In serum-free cultures, Epo also stimulated BFU-E colony formation in the absence of other cytokines, whereas anti-TGF- beta had no effect on the number of colonies formed. Quantitation of TGF-beta 1 in serum by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method showed predominantly the presence of precursor (latent) TGF-beta 1, but also showed active TGF-beta 1 at a concentration sufficient to potently inhibit erythroid colony formation. Thus, neutralization of active TGF- beta 1 in serum shows that Epo alone is sufficient to stimulate the growth of murine BFU-E progenitors.     

Early-acting cytokine-driven ex vivo expansion of mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ cells generates post-mitotic offspring with preserved engraftment ability in non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient mice

The ability of ex-vivo expanded peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) to engraft non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) mice has not been evaluated to date. We investigated the maintenance of primitive SCID-repopulating cells (SRC) and long-term culture-initiating cells (LTCIC) in PBSC expanded with early-acting cytokines, thrombopoietin (TPO), stem cell factor (SCF) and FlT3-ligand (FL) with or without interleukin 3 (IL-3) and IL-6 in short-term (6 d) stroma-free serum-free cultures. TPO + SCF + FL and TPO + SCF + FL + IL-3 + IL-6 produced 5.9 +/- 1.97 and 18.25 +/- 4.49 (mean +/- SEM)-fold increase of CD34+ cells respectively. We tracked cellular division with PKH26 and sorted post-mitotic CD34+ PKH26(low) cells to assess their primitive functional properties. After culture with TPO + SCF + FL, LTCICs among post-mitotic cells increased 12.08 +/- 3.4 times, and 4.3 +/- 1.6 times when IL-3 + IL-6 were added. CD34+ PKH26(low) cells cultured with TPO + SCF + FL provided human multilineage (CD34, CD33 and CD19) engraftment in NOD/SCID mice, whereas no human cells were detected in mice injected with cells cultured with TPO + SCF + FL + IL-3 + IL-6. Percentages of CD34+/CD38-, CD34+/CD33-, CD34+/DR- and cells in G(0)/G(1) phase were similar among cells cultured with both cytokine combinations, indicating that the deleterious impact of IL-3 + IL-6 on the ability to engraft is not translated into phenotypic or cycling features. In conclusion, TPO + SCF + FL-expanded PBSC maintain multilineage engraftment ability in NOD/SCID mice, which is abrogated by the addition of IL-3 + IL-6.     

Characterization of a bipotent erythro-megakaryocytic progenitor in human bone marrow

The aim of the present study was to determine if the human erythroid (E) and megakaryocytic (MK) lineages were closely linked to the existence of a bipotent burst-forming unit (BFU) E/MK progenitor. In methylcellulose cultures, BFU-E/MK colonies were observed at day 12 and closely resembled mature BFU-E with the exception that the erythroid component was surrounded by MK. These colonies were quite different from the colony forming unit (CFU)-GEMM-derived colonies, which were composed of a larger number of erythroblasts and which developed later in culture. The existence of these bilineage colonies composed of 100 to 1,000 erythroblasts intermingled with a few MK and without granulocytic cells was confirmed by the plasma clot technique and immunoalkaline phosphatase labeling of the MK. To investigate if this bipotent progenitor belonged to the compartment of primitive progenitors, CD34+ marrow cells were subfractionated according to expression of the CD38 antigen. The bipotent BFU-E/MK progenitor as well as a large fraction of MK progenitors were found in the CD34+ CD38+/- or in the CD34+ CD38- cell fractions. Growth of this bipotent BFU-E/MK progenitor required the combination of stem cell factor (SCF), Interleukin-3 (IL-3), and Epo in serum free conditions. Addition of IL- 6 had only a marginal effect, whereas megakaryocyte growth and development factor (MGDF) was not an absolute requirement, but slightly increased the plating efficiency of CFU-MK and of BFU-E/MK progenitors when combined with SCF, IL-3, and Epo. In contrast, when these cultures were performed in the presence of 30% fetal calf serum, no BFU-E/MK colonies were observed irrespective of the combination of growth factors used, including the presence of MGDF; however, inclusion of the MS-5 cell line restored the growth of this bipotent progenitor. In contrast, in cultures performed in the presence of human normal or aplastic plasma, MS-5 had only a slight effect on the cloning efficiency but improved MK cytoplasmic maturation and MK size, suggesting that the main effect of MS-5 is to diminish the inhibitory effect of the fetal calf serum on the MK differentiation. The clonal origin of bipotent BFU-E/MK colonies was demonstrated in liquid culture of single CD34+ CD38low cells by immunophenotyping individual clones. At day 12, 30% of the clones contained erythroblasts (glycophorin A+) and some MK (CD41+) without granulocytes (G) or macrophages (M) (CD14+ and CD15+). At day 20, clones containing erythroblasts and MK were rare (5%). In contrast multilineage clones could be frequently detected at this time without passage from BFU-E/MK clones at day 12 to GEMM at day 20. These results suggest that a bipotent BFU-E/MK progenitor may be a nonrandom step in the hierarchical development of stem cells.     

Target cells for granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, interleukin-3, and interleukin-5 in differentiation pathways of neutrophils and eosinophils.

To study the relationship between hematopoietic factors and their responsive hematopoietic progenitors in the differentiation process, both purified factors and enriched progenitors are required. We isolated total CD34+ cells, CD34+,CD33+ cells, and CD34+,CD33- cells individually from normal human bone marrow cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS), and examined the effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), interleukin-3 (IL-3), and IL-5 on in vitro colony formation of these cells. CD34+,CD33+ cells formed granulocyte colonies in the presence of G-CSF. Both CD34+,CD33+ cells and CD34+,CD33- cells formed granulocyte/macrophage colonies in the presence of IL-3. Eosinophil (Eo) colonies were only formed by CD34+,CD33- cells in response to IL-3, but scarcely formed by CD34+ cells in the presence of IL-5. We performed the two-step cultures consisting of the primary liquid culture for 6 days and the secondary methylcellulose culture, and serially examined changes in phenotypes of ,he cells cultured in the primary culture. CD34-,CD33+ cells derived from CD34+,CD33+ cells by preincubation with G-CSF or IL-3 formed Eo colonies in the presence of IL-5 but not IL-3. CD34-,CD33+ cells derived from CD34+,CD33- cells by preincubation with IL-3 also formed Eo colonies by support of IL-5 as well as IL-3. Both CD34+ cells gradually lost the CD34 antigen by day 6 of incubation with G-CSF or IL-3. Loss of this antigen was well-correlated with acquisition of susceptibility to IL-5. It was concluded that G-CSF supported the neutrophil differentiation of committed colony-forming cells, IL-3 supported that of both committed and multipotent colony-forming cells. G-CSF and IL-3 also supported the early stage of E. differentiation; IL-5 supported the late stage of that.     

Sequential generations of hematopoietic colonies derived from single nonlineage-committed CD34+CD38- progenitor cells.

Multiparameter flow cytometry was applied on normal human bone marrow (BM) cells to study the lineage commitment of progenitor cells ie, CD34+ cells. Lineage commitment of the CD34+ cells into the erythroid lineage was assessed by the coexpression of high levels of the CD71 antigen, the myeloid lineage by coexpression of the CD33 antigen and the B-lymphoid lineage by the CD10 antigen. Three color immunofluorescence experiments showed that all CD34+ BM cells that expressed the CD71, CD33, and CD10 antigens, concurrently stained brightly with anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs). In addition, the CD38 antigen was brightly expressed on early T lymphocytes in human thymus, characterized by CD34, CD5, and CD7 expression. Only 1% of the CD34+ cells, 0.01% of nucleated cells in normal BM, did not express the CD38 antigen. The CD34+, CD38- cell population lacked differentiation markers and were homogeneous primitive blast cells by morphology. In contrast the CD34+, CD38 bright cell populations were heterogeneous in morphology and contained myeloblasts and erythroblasts, as well as lymphoblasts. These features are in agreement with properties expected from putative pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells; indeed, the CD34 antigen density decreased concurrently with increasing CD38 antigen density suggesting an upregulation of the CD38 antigen on differentiation of the CD34+ cells. Further evidence for a strong enrichment of early hematopoietic precursors in the CD34+, CD38- cell fraction was obtained from culture experiments in which CD34+ cell fractions with increasing density of the CD38 antigen were sorted singularly and assayed for blast colony formation. On day 14 of incubation, interleukin-3 (IL-3), IL-6, and GM-CSF, G-CSF, and erythropoietin (Epo) were added in each well. Twenty-five percent of the single sorted cells that expressed CD34 but lacked CD38 antigen gave rise to primitive colonies 28 to 34 days after cell sorting. The ability to form primitive colonies decreased rapidly with increasing density of the CD38 antigen. During 120 days of culture, up to five sequential generations of colonies were obtained after replating of the first-generation primitive colonies. This study provides direct evidence for the existence of a single class of progenitors with extensive proliferative capacity in human BM and provides an experimental approach for their purification, manipulation, and further characterization.     

Insulin and insulin-like growth factor I support the proliferation of erythroid progenitor cells in bone marrow through the sharing of receptors

The effects of insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) on the proliferation of erythroid progenitor cells in bone marrow were studied in serum-deprived culture. Primitive human bone marrow cells were purified by cell sorting on the basis of the expression of CD34 and the Kit receptor. Insulin and IGF-I with erythropoietin (EPO) dose dependently supported the formation of erythroid colonies of CD34+/Kit+ cells in bone marrow. The direct effect of insulin and IGF-I on the stimulation of primitive erythroid progenitor cells was confirmed by single-cell proliferation studies in serum-deprived liquid suspension culture. The addition of insulin and/or IGF-I to stem cell factor (SCF) resulted in an additive increase in the number of erythroid colonies. The erythroid colonies formed by insulin and IGF-I with EPO were different in size from those formed by SCF with EPO. These findings imply that erythroid progenitor cells responding to insulin and IGF-I might be at a different developmental stage of erythropoiesis from those responding to SCF in CD34+/Kit+ cells. Similarly, insulin and IGF-I with EPO supported the proliferation of the mature erythroid progenitor cells in light-density bone marrow mononuclear cells (LDBMCs). The addition of the anti-receptor antibody to IGF-I receptor or insulin receptor partially suppressed erythroid colony formation supported with insulin or IGF-I in both CD34+/Kit+ cells and LDBMCs. The simultaneous addition of both receptor antibodies completely abrogated the erythroid colony formation. These results suggest that insulin and IGF-I directly stimulate the proliferation of the late stage of primitive erythroid progenitor cells and mature erythroid progenitor cells through the sharing of receptors.     

Direct synergistic effects of interleukin-7 on in vitro myelopoiesis of human CD34+ bone marrow progenitors

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) is an important growth factor in B and T lymphopoiesis in mouse and human, whereas IL-7 has been regarded to lack proliferative effects on cells within the myeloid lineage. However, we have recently reported that IL-7 potently can enhance colony stimulating factor (CSF)-induced myelopoiesis from primitive murine hematopoietic progenitors, showing a novel role of IL-7 in early murine myelopoiesis. Using CD34+ human hematopoietic progenitor cells, we show here a similar role of IL-7 in human myelopoiesis, although interesting differences between the two species were found as well. Although purified recombinant human (rh)IL-7 alone did not induce any proliferation of CD34+ cells, IL-7 in a concentration-dependent manner enhanced the colony formation induced by all four CSFs up to threefold. Furthermore, stem cell factor (SCF)-induced granulocyte-macrophage (GM) colony formation was increased fourfold in the presence of IL-7. Single- cell cloning assays showed that these synergistic effects of IL-7 were directly mediated on the targeted progenitors, and that IL-7 increased the number, as well as the size of the colonies formed. Morphological examination showed that IL-7 affected the progeny developed from CD34+ cells stimulated by G-CSF or IL-3, increasing the number of CFU-M (colony forming unit-macrophage) and CFU-granulocyte-macrophage, whereas the number of CFU-granulocyte were unaltered.