In vitro expansion of the murine pluripotent hemopoietic stem cell population in response to interleukin 3 and interleukin 6. Application to bone marrow transplantation
Okano, A.; Suzuki, C.; Takatsuki, F.; Akiyama, Y.; Koike, K.; Ozawa, K.; Hirano, T.; Kishimoto, T.; Nakahata, T.; Asano, S.
Transplantation 48(3): 495-498
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-1337 PMID: 2675408 Document Number: 333449
The synergistic action of interleukin 6 with interleukin 3 on the proliferation of a murine hemopoietic stem cell population in a short-term liquid culture system was examined by radioprotective assay. The numbers of colony-forming units in spleen (CFU-S), together with granulocyte/macrophage colony-forming units and viable nucleated cells, were found to increase markedly in culture in the presence of both IL-3 and IL-6, compared with the presence of IL-3 or IL-6 alone. The peak CFU-S value in response to the combination of IL-3 and IL-6 was obtained 6 days after culture initiation, exceeding 5-fold of the input value. Consistent with these data, marrow cells cultured with both IL-3 and IL-6 for 6 days were shown to have a much higher capability of rescuing lethally irradiated mice than did controls. The results may portend the potential clinical use of the combination of IL-3 and IL-6, in particular, in bone marrow transplantation.