Role of splenic stroma in the action of bacterial lipopolysaccharides on radiation mortality: a study in mice carrying the Slj allele

Abstract. Sl_j/+ mice display a slight macrocytic anaemia due to a defect in their haemopoietic organ stroma. They have a deficient endogenous spleen colony (CFU-end) formation following sublethal doses of gamma-radiation compared with their normal +/+ littermates, which is likely to be due to the low pre-irradiation CFU-S content of the Sl_j/+ spleen. CFU-S in these congenic mice do not differ in their sensitivity to gamma-irradiation or stem cell-activating factor. While injection of +/+ mice with 10 μg of lipopolysaccharide-W (LPS) one day prior to irradiation led to a substantial increase in their survival, the survival of Sl_j/+ mice was only slightly increased. Irradiation induced a similar dose-related reduction in the numbers of CFU-S in the spleen and femora of LPS-injected Sl_j/+ mice compared to similarly treated +/+ mice when measured directly after irradiation. At Day 9 after irradiation, injection of LPS led to a significantly higher CFU-end formation and higher numbers of CFU-S and nucleated cells in the Sl_j/+ spleens compared to LPS-injected +/+ mice. No such differences in the radioprotective effect of LPS were observed in the +/+ and Sl_j/+ mice with respect to the splenic and femoral ⁵⁹Fe-incorporation and the femoral CFU-S numbers at Day 9. These data strongly suggest a contribution by immigrating CFU-S to the CFU-S numbers and endogenous colony formation in at least the Sl_j/+ spleen after LPS injection and subsequent sublethal irradiation. The observations also imply that the splenic organ stroma may play a mediatory role in the radioprotective action of LPS. In addition, the data represent an extreme example of a lack of correlation between animal survival and haemopoietic parameters. Caution should be taken when applying endogenous colony counts as a means of screening potential anti-radiation drugs.     

Regulation of haemopoietic stem-cell proliferation in mice carrying the Slj allele

We investigated a haemopoietic stromal defect, in mice heterozygous for the Slj allele, during haemopoietic stress induced by treatment with bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or lethal total body irradiation (TBI) and bone-marrow cell (BMC) reconstitution. Both treatments resulted in a comparable haemopoietic stem cell (CFU-s) proliferation in Slj/+ and +/+ haemopoietic organs. There was no difference in committed haemopoietic progenitor cell (BFU-e and CFU-G/M) kinetics after TBI and +/+ bone-marrow transplantation in Slj/+ and +/+ mice. The Slj/+ mice were deficient in their ability to support macroscopic spleen colony formation (65% of +/+ controls) as measured at 7 and 10 days after BMC transplantation. However, the Slj/+ spleen colonies contained the same number of BFU-E and CFU-G/M as colonies from +/+ spleens, while their CFU-s content was increased. On day 10 post-transplantation, the macroscopic 'missing' colonies could be detected at the microscopic level. These small colonies contained far fewer CFU-s than the macroscopic detectable colonies. Analysis of CFU-s proliferation-inducing activities in control and post-LPS sera revealed that Slj/+ mice are normal in their ability to produce and to respond to humoral stem-cell regulators. We postulate that Slj/+ mice have a normal number of splenic stromal 'niches' for colony formation. However, 35% of these niches is defective in its proliferative support.     

Radioprotection of mice with interleukin-1: relationship to the number of spleen colony-forming units

Compared to saline-injected mice 9 days after 6.5 Gy irradiation, there were twofold more Day 8 spleen colony-forming units (CFU-S) per femur and per spleen from B6D2F1 mice administered a radioprotective dose of human recombinant interleukin-1-alpha (rIL-1) 20 h prior to their irradiation. Studies in the present report compared the numbers of CFU-S in nonirradiated mice 20 h after saline or rIL-1 injection. Prior to irradiation, the number of Day 8 CFU-S was not significantly different in the bone marrow or spleens from saline-injected mice and rIL-1-injected mice. Also, in the bone marrow, the number of Day 12 CFU-S was similar for both groups of mice. Similar seeding efficiencies for CFU-S and percentage of CFU-S in S phase of the cell cycle provided further evidence that rIL-1 injection did not increase the number of CFU-S prior to irradiation. In a marrow repopulation assay, cellularity as well as the number of erythroid colony-forming units, erythroid burst-forming units, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming cells per femur of lethally irradiated mice were not increased in recipient mice of donor cells from rIL-1-injected mice. These results demonstrated that a twofold increase in the number of CFU-S at the time of irradiation was not necessary for the earlier recovery of CFU-S observed in mice irradiated with sublethal doses of radiation 20 h after rIL-1 injection.     

Characteristics of the Cfu-S Population In Mice Carrying the SlJ Allele

Abstract Abstract. A tentative characterization of haemopoietic stem cells with respect to their organ distribution, seeding fraction and colony formation in the spleen, radiosen-sitivity and humoral regulation was attempted in mice heterozygous for the mutant allele Sl^J and in their normal littermates. Sl^J/+ mice were characterized by a deficient CFU-s content of the blood and spleen and had slightly lower femoral CFU-s numbers. This CFU-s distribution could not be explained by differences in seeding efficiency ‘f’ between CFU-s of Sl^J/+ and +/+ origin in lethally irradiated recipients used in the CFU-s assay. the seeding fraction of CFU-s of +/+ origin did not differ in +/+ and Sl^J/+ recipients. However, in irradiated SI^J/+ recipient mice a 30% decrease was observed in the number of the colonies derived from splenic and femoral CFU-s of both +/+ and Sl^J/+ origin. the serum level of SHSF (splenic haemopoiesis stimulating factor) was decreased in Sl^J/+ mice, but significantly increased in Sl/Sl^d mice, as compared to their respective normal +/+ littermates. Endogenous colony formation in Sl^J/+ spleens was deficient in comparison to that observed in +/+ spleens, and distinct sex differences were observed. However, mutant and normal CFU-s from spleen and bone marrow had a similar survival following in-vitro y irradiation. Femurs and spleens of both Sl^J/+ and +/+ origin were implanted into both Sl^J/+ and +/+ hosts. Six weeks later the Sl^J/+ grafts contained less CFU-s than the +/+ grafts. These data show that the splenic stroma of Sl^J/+ mice is not defective in its capacity to lodge injected CFU-s but is deficient in its ability to maintain CFU-s under ‘steady-state’ conditions and stimulate their colony formation in a ‘perturbed state’. Some of the characteristics of Sl^J/+ mice segregate them from Sl/Sl^d mice, i.e. a deficient splenic CFU-s content, normal seeding fractions ‘f’ of CFU-s from spleen and bone marrow in the presence of an almost compensated anemia, and decreased serum levels of SHSF. the study of the Sl^J trait may be a useful extension of the current Sl/Sl^d model for exploration of hereditary defects in haematopoietic stroma.     

Regulation of haemopoietic stem-cell proliferation in mice carrying the Slj allele

We investigated a haemopoietic stromal defect, in mice heterozygous for the Sl^j allele, during haemopoietic stress induced by treatment with bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or lethal total body irradiation (TBI) and bone-marrow cell (BMC) reconstitution. Both treatments resulted in a comparable haemopoietic stem cell (CFU-s) proliferation in Sl^j/+ and +/+ haemopoietic organs. There was no difference in committed haemopoietic progenitor cell (BFU-e and CFU-G/M) kinetics after TBI and +/+ bone-marrow transplantation in Sl^j/+ and +/+ mice. the Sl^j/+ mice were deficient in their ability to support macroscopic spleen colony formation (65% of +/+ controls) as measured at 7 and 10 days after BMC transplantation. However, the Sl^j/+ spleen colonies contained the same number of BFU-E and CFU-G/M as colonies from +/+ spleens, while their CFU-s content was increased. On day 10 post-transplantation, the macroscopic ‘missing’ colonies could be detected at the microscopic level. These small colonies contained far fewer CFU-s than the macroscopic detectable colonies. Analysis of CFU-s proliferation-inducing activities in control and post-LPS sera revealed that Sl^j/+ mice are normal in their ability to produce and to respond to humoral stem-cell regulators. We postulate that Sl^j/+ mice have a normal number of splenic stromal ‘niches’ for colony formation. However, 35% of these niches is defective in its proliferative support.     

Haemopoietic stem cell proliferation in the bone marrow of S1/S1d mice

In marrow from Sl/Sld mice (but not +/+ mice) day 7 and day 8 CFU-S proliferate whilst day 10 and day 12 CFU-S exhibit negligible proliferation. Media conditioned by both +/+ and Sl/Sld marrow contains an inhibitor of CFU-S proliferation but day 8 CFU-S in +/+ and Sl/Sld marrow show marked dose-response differences to this factor. To inhibit the proliferation of Sl/Sld CFU-S required approximately ten times the concentration of inhibitor that inhibited the proliferation of +/+ CFU-S. Thus abnormally responsive day 8-CFU-S were shown to proliferate in an inhibitory environment. Abnormalities in Sl/Sld CFU-S function were also demonstrated in heterotopic transplantation experiments using +/+ and Sl/Sld donors and hosts to obtain ectopic bone marrow with various stromal (donor) and haemopoietic (host) combinations. Day 8 Sl/Sld CFU-S were seen to proliferate, irrespective of whether the stromal environment was derived from Sl/Sld or +/+ marrow. Sl/Sld mice are generally regarded as animals in which there is a genetically determined defect in haemopoiesis due to an abnormality in the haemopoietic environment. It is difficult, however, to attribute the abnormal CFU-S behaviour in these experiments to environmental factors and the results are consistent with mutation at the Sl locus affecting the responses of CFU-S to regulatory signals, i.e. the genetic defect is not confined to the stromal environment.     

Expression of congenital defects in the haemopoietic micro-environment. Erythroid and granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells in pre-natal 'steel' (Slj/Slj) anaemic mice.

The erythropietin sensitivities of dissociated cell cultures and explanted fragments of fetal livers of congenitally anaemic Slj/Slj mice, and their normal littermates, have been compared. The erythropoietin responsiveness of Slj/Slj foetal liver cells is deficient in both types of culture. The maximum liver complement of erythroid colony forming cells (CFUe) occurs on the 16th day of development when 'normal' livers contain approximately 6 X 10(5) erythroid colony forming cells/liver. In Slj/Slj fetuses the maximum reached is only 1 X 10(5). Granulocyte-macrophage colony forming cells (CFUc) in Slj/Slj fetal livers are also reduced to approximately 60% of normal numbers. Erythroid colony forming cells are also reduced in the spleen and femoral bone marrow of Slj/Slj mice in the 2-3 days preceding birth. Granulocyte-macrophage colony forming cells are rare in the femoral marrow of pre-natal Slj/Slj mice, but their production in the Slj/Slj pre-natal spleen appears unaffected.     

Haemopoietic stem cell proliferation in the bone marrow of Sl/Sld mice

Abstract. In marrow from Sl/Sl^d mice (but not +/+ mice) day 7 and day 8 CFU-S proliferate whilst day 10 and day 12 CFU-S exhibit negligible proliferation. Media conditioned by both +/+ and Sl/Sl^d marrow contains an inhibitor of CFU-S proliferation but day 8 CFU-S in +/+ and Sl/Sl^d marrow show marked dose-response differences to this factor. To inhibit the proliferation of Sl/Sl^d CFU-S required approximately ten times the concentration of inhibitor that inhibited the proliferation of +/+ CFU-S. Thus abnormally responsive day 8-CFU-S were shown to proliferate in an inhibitory environment.
Abnormalities in Sl/Sl^d CFU-S function were also demonstrated in heterotopic transplantation experiments using +/+ and Sl/Sl^d donors and hosts to obtain ectopic bone marrow with various stromal (donor) and haemopoietic (host) combinations. Day 8 Sl/Sl^d CFU-S were seen to proliferate, irrespective of whether the stromal environment was derived from Sl/Sl^d or +/+ marrow.
Sl/Sl^d mice are generally regarded as animals in which there is a genetically determined defect in haemopoiesis due to an abnormality in the haemopoietic environment. It is difficult, however, to attribute the abnormal CFU-S behaviour in these experiments to environmental factors and the results are consistent with mutation at the Sl locus affecting the responses of CFU-S to regulatory signals, i.e. the genetic defect is not confined to the stromal environment.     

Radiation sensitivity of hemopoietic stroma: long-term partial recovery of hemopoietic stromal damage in mice treated during growth

We studied the ability of the hemopoietic organ stroma to recover from damage inflicted by 5 or 7 Gy gamma radiation administered during a period of stromal growth in 4-week-old mice. Irradiation resulted in an immediate depletion of femoral colony-forming fibroblastic progenitors (CFU-F) down to 10-20% of age-matched control values. A full recovery to normal numbers occurred between 120 and 240 days after irradiation and was followed by a secondary decrease 1 year after irradiation. This secondary decrease was accompanied by a decrease in the femoral CFU-S and CFU-C content. Femoral CFU-F attained normal numbers and it was demonstrated to occur from surviving CFU-F and could not be enhanced or prolonged following infusion of unirradiated bone marrow cells after irradiation. During the transient CFU-F recovery the hemopoietic stroma remained severely damaged as judged by the regenerative capacity of spleen and femur stroma after subcutaneous implantation, and the ability of the spleen to accumulate CFU-S in response to lipopolysaccharide injection. We have reported earlier that in similarly irradiated adult mice, no restoration of femoral CFU-F was observed. This difference between 4-week-old and adult mice could not be explained by a difference in in vitro radiosensitivity of CFU-F or in their in vivo regeneration kinetics following irradiation and subsequent lipopolysaccharide injection. We conclude from these observations that the recovery kinetics of the CFU-F population is different in young and adult irradiated mice, infused CFU-F do not contribute to CFU-F regeneration in an irradiated femur, CFU-F are not the sole determinants of stromal regeneration in femur and spleen following irradiation.     

The influence of some retarding agents NOS of dihydrothiazine-thiazoline rank on postradiational of recovery endogenous CFU-S-8 of mice

In this work the attempt to estimate a nitric oxide (NO*) role in regulation of the number of pool haemopoietic stem cells at the irradiated mice was made. With this purpose the number of new compounds from dihydrothiazine-thiazoline line was synthesized, their NO-inhibiting activity was investigated in vivo by the method of ESR-spectroscopy of spin trap and their influence on an output endogenous spleen colonies (CFU-S-8) after the total sublethal y-irradiation of mice in a doze of 6 Gy was also investigated. Was shown, that the tested compounds reduced the contents of NO* in a liver tissue of mice which have received an injection of nitric oxide synthesis inductor - lipopolysaccharide, and also increased an output CFU-S-8 forming endogenous colonies in the spleen of the irradiated mice. Received data testify to perceptivity of search radioprotective agents among NO* synthesis inhibitors.     

Effect of age of mouse recipients on the functional activity of transplanted hematopoietic and lymphoid cells]

When transplanting the bone marrow cells from adult C57BL mice to the lethally irradiated (CBA X C57BL) F1 hybrids of different age, the decrease of the colony forming activity of the stem haemopoietic cells was observed in the spleen of the older recipients, as compared with the 3 months old ones. The joint transplantation of the bone marrow and thymus cells resulted in both the cases in the stimulation of the growth of colonies. The number of endogenous colonies of haemopoietic cells arising in the spleen of animals following the sublethal irradiation was greater in younger hybrids. After the induction of the "transplant versus host" reaction by the lymph node or spleen cells from the CBA mice, the relative weight of spleen and regional lymph node, respectively, in the older recipients exceeded those in the younger ones.     

PROPERTIES OF HAEMOPOIETIC STEM CELLS IN PHENYLHYDRAZINE TREATED MICE

Recovery of erythropoiesis was fast in Balb/c mice irradiated 700 R 5 days after initiation of phenylhydrazine treatment and took place predominantly in the spleen, which showed numerous large frequently confluent endogenous colonies. Post irradiation phenylhydrazine induced anaemia did not accelerate recovery of erythropoiesis; it did, however, produce a slight but significant rise in endogenous colony formation.
Radiosensitivity of spleen CFU-S from phenylhydrazine treated mice was similar to that of CFU-S in normal mouse spleen.
Spleen CFU-S in mice 5 days after initiation of phenylhydrazine treatment were sensitive to the lethal action of Hydroxyurea, while bone marrow CFU-S were not.
The self-renewal capacity of CFU-S in the endogenously repopulated spleen of phenylhydrazine pretreated 700 R X-irradiated mice was low when compared to that of spleen exogenously repopulated by cells from normal mouse bone marrow, normal and phenylhydrazine treated mouse spleen. CFU circulating in blood of phenylhydrazine treated mice had a low self-renewal capacity.
The marked strain differences in self-renewal capacity of spleen CFU-S, and of the capacity of spleen CFU-S to increase by proliferation are discussed.     

Increase in endogenous spleen colonies without recovery of blood cell counts in radioadaptive survival response in C57BL/6 mice

The radioadaptive survival response induced by a conditioning exposure to 0.45 Gy and measured as an increase in 30-day survival after mid-lethal X irradiation was studied in C57BL/6N mice. The acquired radioresistance appeared on day 9 after the conditioning exposure, reached a maximum on days 12-14, and disappeared on day 21. The conditioning exposure 14 days prior to the challenge exposure increased the number of endogenous spleen colonies (CFU-S) on days 12-13 after the exposure to 5 Gy. On day 12 after irradiation, the conditioning exposure also increased the number of endogenous CFU-S to about five times that seen in animals exposed to 4.25-6.75 Gy without preirradiation. The effect of the interval between the preirradiation and the challenge irradiation on the increase in endogenous CFU-S was also examined. A significant increase in endogenous CFU-S was observed when the interval was 14 days, but not 9 days. This result corresponded to the increase in survival observed on day 14 after the challenge irradiation. Radiation-inducted resistance to radiation-induced lethality in mice appears to be closely related to the marked recovery of endogenous CFU-S in the surviving hematopoietic stem cells that acquired radioresistance by preirradiation. Preirradiation enhanced the recovery of the numbers of erythrocytes, leukocytes and thrombocytes very slightly in mice exposed to a sublethal dose of 5 Gy, a dose that does not cause bone marrow death. There appears to be no correlation between the marked increase in endogenous CFU-S and the slight increase or no increase in peripheral blood cells induced by the radioadaptive response. The possible contribution by some factor, such as Il4 or Il11, that has been reported to protect irradiated animals without stimulating hematopoiesis is discussed.     

Stimulating action of Brucella melitensis lipopolysaccharide on hemopoiesis in mice

The bacterial mass, brucellar protective antigen and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) obtained from B. melitensis stimulated the formation of endogenous colonies in the spleen of mice belonging to different strains, subjected to irradiation in sublethal doses. The maximum stimulating effect was observed when the antigens were introduced 24 hours prior to irradiation. LPS introduced in the optimal dose induced an increase in the number of hemopoietic stem cells (HSC) in the s-phase of the cell cycle, thus stimulating the postirradiation survival of mice irradiated in a lethal dose. 24 hours after the injection of LPS the total number of HSC in the spleen increased 1.5 times. These data indicate that LPS has a stimulating effect on hemopoiesis in mice. The effect rendered by LPS is seemingly linked with an increase in the proliferation of HSC and, to a lesser extent, depends on changes in the migration of HSC.     

Effects of Trichinella spiralis infections upon bone marrow stem cells in BALB/c mice

Trichinella spiralis infections provoke a variety of responses in the host, some of which involve stem cell proliferation and myeloid cell maturation, increases in the mast cell precursor cell populations, and maturation and eosinopoiesis. Very little is known about the influence of T. spiralis upon bone marrow stem cells and splenic colony formation. In the present communication we report that T. spiralis infection in mice stimulates the generation of colony-forming units in the spleen (CFU-S). Passive transfer of bone marrow cells from uninfected BALB/c mice to X-irradiated (650 R) T. spiralis-infected recipients resulted in a significant increase of CFU-S at 14 and 24 days postinfection. Passive transfer of bone marrow cells from T. spiralis-infected mice to X-irradiated uninfected mice also resulted in increased numbers of CFU-S in the donor mice at 24 days postinfection. These findings strongly suggest that T. spiralis infection conditions the microenvironment in the spleen which stimulates CFU-S.     

Local regulation of haemopoietic stem cell proliferation in mice following irradiation

Changes in the kinetic state of pluripotent haemopoietic spleen colony forming cells (CFU-S) and of the CFU-S proliferation stimulator have been studied following whole-body X-irradiation. Rapid recruitment of CFU-S into cell cycle by 30 min after irradiation was observed following low doses (0.5 Gy) but a delay of 6 h occurred after higher doses (1.5 and 4.5 Gy). These changes in proliferative state correlated with the presence of the CFU-S proliferation stimulator. CFU-S irradiated in vitro in bone marrow plugs were also recruited into cycle illustrating directly the local nature of the feedback mechanism. CFU-S removed from 1.5 Gy irradiated recipients at a time when they were not in cycle were not responsive to the CFU-S proliferation stimulator. The CFU-S proliferation stimulator was produced by Ia positive cells in the irradiated bone marrow. The regulation changes occurring shortly after irradiation cannot simply be controlled by the size of the CFU-S compartment.     

Local regulation of haemopoietic stem cell proliferation in mice following irradiation

Abstract Changes in the kinetic state of pluripotent haemopoietic spleen colony forming cells (CFU-S) and of the CFU-S proliferation stimulator have been studied following whole-body X-irradiation. Rapid recruitment of CFU-S into cell cycle by 30 min after irradiation was observed following low doses (0.5 Gy) but a delay of 6 h occurred after higher doses (1.5 and 4.5 Gy). These changes in proliferative state correlated with the presence of the CFU-S proliferation stimulator. CFU-S irradiated in vitro in bone marrow plugs were also recruited into cycle illustrating directly the local nature of the feedback mechanism. CFU-S removed from 1.5 Gy irradiated recipients at a time when they were not in cycle were not responsive to the CFU-S proliferation stimulator. The CFU-S proliferation stimulator was produced by Ia positive cells in the irradiated bone marrow. The regulation changes occurring shortly after irradiation cannot simply be controlled by the size of the CFU-S compartment.     

The role of the hemopoietic microenvironment on the hemopoiesis-stimulating effect of cystamine

The influence of cystamine delivered in a radioprotective dose before and after irradiation of mouse-recipients (8 Gy) on the effectiveness of exogenous bone marrow cloning has been investigated. Cystamine administered prior to irradiation exerts a protective effect on CFUs and also causes an increase in the number of splenic colonies grown from CFUs of the transplanted bone marrow. With cystamine administered after irradiation the protective effect is absent, but the CFUs number in the femur increases in recipients transplanted with intact bone marrow in comparison with those transplanted without cystamine. It is believed, that in addition to the specific protective mechanism of action of radioprotectors, there is a nonspecific mechanism of increasing the proliferation of protected stem cells that is connected with the stimulatory effect of radioprotective agents on the haemopoietic stroma elements.     

Radioprotective effects of the immunomodulator AS101

Ammonium trichloro(dioxyethylene-O-O')tellurate (AS101) is a new synthetic compound previously described by us as having immunomodulating properties and minimal toxicity. Clinical trials are currently in progress with AS101 on AIDS and cancer patients. We found that AS101 was capable of inducing spleen cells and peritoneal exudate cells to secrete high quantities of CSF and IL-1. Because IL-1 has been previously described as a radioprotector and CSF may induce in vivo the proliferation of hemopoietic cells, we designed the present study in order to evaluate the effects of prolonged in vivo injections of AS101 on protection against lethal doses of irradiation, on the recovery pattern of precursor cells, and on the functioning of bone marrow (BM) and spleen cells of mice undergoing sublethal doses of treatment. We demonstrate that pretreatment with AS101 protects mice from lethal effects of ionizing radiation. AS101 was also found to significantly increase the number of BM and spleen cells, the absolute number of granulocyte macrophage-CFU and the secretion of CSF by BM cells. All were tested 9 days after sublethal dose of irradiation was administered. AS101 was found to have all of these radioprotective effects only when administered to mice before irradiation treatment. Moreover, the compound was found to enhance the proportion of CFU-S that enters the S phase of the cell cycle. These findings indicate that AS101 may be a promising agent to be used in reducing the time needed for reconstitution of hemopoietic cells after irradiation treatment.     

Leukotriene-induced radioprotection of hematopoietic stem cells in mice

Leukotrienes (LTs), known primarily for their pathological roles, may also be capable of exerting "cytoprotection" against toxic agents in a manner similar to that of prostaglandins. In this report, it is shown that treatment of mice with leukotrienes C4, D4, E4, or B4 prior to sublethal irradiation increased the number of endogenous hematopoietic stem cells (E-CFU), with LTC4 producing the greatest response (LTC4 much greater than B4 greater than E4 greater than D4). LTC4-induced hematopoietic radioprotection was examined in greater detail using the exogenous spleen colony (CFU-S) and granulocyte/macrophage progenitor cell (GM-CFC) assays. The dose reduction factors for these cells in LTC4-treated mice at radiation doses resulting in 37% cell survival were 1.65 and 2.01, respectively.