Postradiation recovery of hemopoietic and stromal precursor cells in mice preinjected with prodigiozan]

Injection of prodigiozan to mice 24 h before irradiation caused, by the time of the radiation effect, a decrease in the number of haemopoietic cells-precursors (CFUs and CFU-HM) in the bone marrow and an increase in the functional activity of stromal cell-precursors--the haemopoietic microenvironment of transfer units (HMTU); in the spleen, the number of CFUs decreased, but the number of CFU-HM increased considerably. During the postirradiation period, the haemopoietic and stromal precursors were damaged to a lesser extent, and CFUs, CFU-HM and HMTU recovered more readily in prodigiozan-protected animals than in unprotected mice; the HMTU restoration preceded the increase in CFUs and CFU-HM levels.     

Effect of fractionated thymocytes from intact and irradiated mice on CFU recovery in the bone marrow after sublethal irradiation

In studying the influence of thymocytes fractionated by their size in the ficoll density gradient on the CFUs content of the irradiated mouse bone marrow, two subpopulations of T-cells were isolated: the administration of the first thymocyte subpopulation decreased the CFUs content during the postirradiation recovery period while thymocytes of the second subpopulation increased the content of CFUs in the bone marrow. When thymocytes of mice exposed to low-level radiation were separated a considerable stimulatory effect was produced by certain thymus cell fractions on the number of CFUs in the bone marrow of exposed recipients; no inhibitory effect was registered.     

Effect of Hyperthyroidism On Haemopoietic Stem Cell Kinetics In Mice

Changes in the pool of haemopoietic colony-forming units (CFUs) of bone marrow and spleen were studied in experiments with mice fed dried thyroid gland (TH) for 21 days, and during the 13 days that followed feeding. After HU treatment, the number of CFUs in DNA synthesis was estimated. As early as the second day of TH treatment, the pool of CFUs is gradually increased, leading to an increase in the total number of splenic and bone marrow CFUs persisting after TH treatment for the period examined. Simultaneously, the numbers of nucleated cells in the bone marrow and spleen are increased. During TH feeding and following its termination, the total number of erythrocytes and the haematocrit values did not change significantly, whereas an increased number of leucocytes was observed in the peripheral blood after TH treatment. Elevation of the proliferative activity of CFUs occurred early in the period of TH treatment, with the maximum attained by end of the first week of TH feeding. This suggests a rapid response of the haemopoietic stem cell compartment to the administration of TH hormones. the participation of humoral factors controlling CFUs compartments in the mechanism of the stimulatory effect of TH hormones on haemopoietic stem cells is discussed.     

The study of mechanisms of radioprotective action of indometofen n hematopoietic stem cells in mouse long-term bone marrow cultures

The influence of indometophen (an analog of tamoxiphen) on the dynamic content and the proliferative activity of CFUs (colony-forming units) and CFU-GM (granulocyto-macrophages precursors) and the level of colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in mouse long-term bone marrow cultures were studied for 4 weeks after administration. Five days after indometophen injection the long-term cultures were exposed to irradiation with a dose of 2 Gy and on the time course of postirradiation recovery haemopoietic precursors cells and dynamic release of GM-CSF in the culture supernatants were examined. The data of this report suggest that the mechanisms responsible for the radioprotective action of indometophen may be associated both with its direct effects on the proliferation and differentiation of hemopoietic cellular precursors and with the stimulation of release of growth-differential factors by hemopoietic microenvironmental elements.     

Enhanced triggering of stem cell proliferation after two doses of hydroxyurea

Abstract. Hydroxyurea (HU) injected into experimental mice increases the proliferation rate of the pluripotent haemopoietic stem cells (CFUs). This effect can be enhanced if hydroxyurea is administered in two doses, separated by 2 hr. The effect does not seem to be caused by more extensive bone marrow damage.     

Comparison of the reparative property of early and late CFUs after sublethal radiation injury

Restoration ability of early and late CFUs has been studied using bone marrow sublethal fractional irradiation. It has been shown that CFUs capacity for early postirradiation repair on the 11th day is sharply reduced, as compared to that of CFUs on the 8th day.     

Modification of the radiation injury of hematopoiesis in rats using the gaseous hypoxic mixture GHM-10

In experiments on Wistar rats it was shown that gas hypoxic mixture containing O2 (10%) and N2 (90%) had a radioprotective action with regard to the survival rate for 30 days and to the haemopoietic system status. The application of gas hypoxic mixture reduced the postirradiation cytopenia in the blood and lowered the degree of the bone marrow depletion by the 3d day following irradiation; DMF was 1.25 as determined by total bone marrow cellularity.     

MOBILIZATION OF HAEMOPOIETIC STEM CELLS (CFU) INTO THE PERIPHERAL BLOOD OF THE MOUSE; EFFECTS OF ENDOTOXIN AND OTHER COMPOUNDS

Factors affecting the circulation of haemopoietic stem cells (CFU) in the peripheral blood of mice were investigated. I.v. injection of sublethal doses of endotoxin, trypsin and proteinase appeared to raise the number of CFU per ml blood from about 30–40 to about 300–400 or more within 10 min. The effect was smaller when smaller doses of the substances were injected. After this initial rise the number of circulating cells returned to normal in a few hours. Following endotoxin there was a second rise which started 2–3 days after injection and attained a peak on the 6th–7th day. The first rise is explained as a mobilization of stem cells from their normal microenvironments into the blood stream; the second rise is considered to reflect proliferation of CFUs in the haemopoietic tissues. The spleen seems to be acting as an organ capturing CFUs from the blood and not as a source adding stem cells to the blood.
The early mobilization of CFU after endotoxin injection did not coincide with a mobilization of neutrophils. The number of circulating band cells was increased during the first hours.
The importance of 'open sites'in the haemopoietic tissue for capturing CFUs was studied by emptying these sites through a lethal X-irradiation and injecting normal bone marrow cells. When a greater number of syngeneic bone marrow cells was injected intravenously, the level of circulating CFU in irradiated mice was slightly lower than the level in unirradiated mice during the first hours.     

The possible pathways of IL-2 stimulation of colony formation by bone marrow cells irradiated in vitro

The authors have made an attempt to find out the reasons of IL-2 stimulation of spleen colony growth by in vitro (1 Gy) irradiated bone marrow cells. It was shown that the effect of IL on haemopoiesis manifests itself with merely small radiation doses implying that the influence of the preparation makes the process of haemopoietic organ repopulation start at a higher level of cell survival, which is presumably related to a more active repair of radiation-induced CFUs damages: this leads, with other things being equal (e.g. proliferation rate and f factor), to a higher yield of colonies than it is observed with the recipients protected with the exposed bone marrow only.     

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.     

MULTIPLICATION OF HAEMOPOIETIC COLONY FORMING UNITS (CFU) IN MICE AFTER X-IRRADIATION AND BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION

Kinetics of the multiplication of haemopoietic CFUs was studied in lethally irradiated mice receiving various numbers of syngeneic bone marrow cells. After transplantation of a small number of bone marrow cells, the growth rate of CFU in femoral bone marrow appeared to decrease after about 10 days after transplantation, before the normal level of CFU in the femur was attained. In the spleen it was found that the overshoot which was observed about 10 days after transplantation of a large number of bone marrow cells is smaller or absent when a small number of cells is transplanted. Experiments dealing with transplantation of 50 x 10⁶ bone marrow cells 0, 4 or 10 days after a lethal irradiation indicated that the decline in growth rate of CFUs about 10 days after irradiation could not be attributed to environmental changes in the host.
The results are explained by the hypothesis that a previous excessive proliferation of CFUs diminishes the growth rate thereafter. This hypothesis is supported by experiments in which 50 x 10⁶ bone marrow cells derived from normal mice or from syngeneic chimaeras were transplanted. The slowest growth rate was observed when bone marrow that had been subjected to the most excessive proliferation in the weeks preceding the experiment was transplanted.     

The influence of dietary protein deficiency on haemopoietic cells in the mouse.

These experiments examined the effect of a diet limited only in protein (4% by weight) on haemopoietic stem cells in mice. This diet places severe restrictions on growth and cell proliferation and this was reflected in lower numbers of colony forming units (CFUs) and in vitro colony forming cells (CFCs). Differences were apparent in the response of different organs to this stress; for instance, the incidence of spleen CFUs fell sharply from around 40/mg spleen tissue to 1-4/mg spleen tissue after 3 weeks on a low protein diet. This selective loss did not occur in bone marrow where total CFUs remained proportional to cellular content. Yet a third pattern was shown by thymus CFUs--although the numbers were low these increased from 16/thymus in normal mice to 132/thymus in deprived mice. This was the only organ examined which showed an increase. The effects of a return to a high protein (18%) diet showed that the spleen was the most responsive organ. By day 5 after the return to 18% protein the spleen contained as many CFUs per million cells as the bone marrow. During this time the content of CFU in the spleen had increased some 50-fold whereas bone marrow CFUs only doubled. The spleen assumes the major reconstructive role during the refeeding process.     

Bone Marrow Response to Damage Induced By Hydroxyurea Or Colchicine

The extent of bone marrow damage caused by the administration of single or repeated doses of either hydroxyurea (1000 mg/kg b.w.) or colchicine (1 mg/kg b.w.) are comparable. This conclusion is based on serial studies of bone marrow cellularity and of the CFUc numbers in the bone marrow. the proliferation response of the pluripotential haemopoietic stem cells, determined by the cells forming colonies in the spleen of lethally irradiated mice (CFUs) markedly differs if the bone marrow damage is caused by hydroxyurea or colchicine. While hydroxyurea administration stimulates a large proportion of the resting G₀ cells into the cell cycle, the damage induced by colchicine is followed by only a mild increase in the CFUs proliferation rate. The seeding efficiency of the spleen colony technique has been determined after both hydroxyurea and colchicine administration. This parameter, important for the estimation of the number of the pluripotential haemopoietic stem cells in blood forming organs, is significantly affected by hydroxyurea administration, but also by repeated injections of colchicine. Following a single dose of hydroxyurea, the time-course of the CFUs numbers, which were corrected for the change in the seeding efficiency, shows an overshoot occurring after 18–20 hr. At the other time periods, the number of pluripotential haemopoietic stem cells is little affected by a single hydroxyurea injection. This poses a question about the nature of the stimulus, which after hydroxyurea administration triggers the CFUs from the resting G₀ state into the cell cycle. There is evidence that this stimulus is probably not represented by the damage caused to the various intensively proliferating cell populations of the bone marrow. This evidence is based on experiments which show that colchicine induced damage, of a degree similar to that after hydroxyurea, does not stimulate the CFUs proliferation rate to an extent comparable to hydroxyurea. The possibility that colchicine could block CFUs in the G₀ state or that it could interfere with the progress of CFUs through the G₁ and S phases of the cell cycle have been ruled out by experiments which demonstrated that colchicine (1 mg/kg b.w.), administered 10 min before hydroxyurea, does not reduce the number of CFUs triggered into the cell cycle as the consequence of hydroxyurea administration.     

THE INFLUENCE OF DIETARY PROTEIN DEFICIENCY ON HAEMOPOIETIC CELLS IN THE MOUSE

These experiments examined the effect of a diet limited only in protein (4% by weight) on haemopoietic stem cells in mice. This diet places severe restrictions on growth and cell proliferation and this was reflected in lower numbers of colony forming units (CFUs) and in vitro colony forming cells (CFCs). Differences were apparent in the response of different organs to this stress; for instance, the incidence of spleen CFUs fell sharply from around 40/mg spleen tissue to 1 -4/mg spleen tissue after 3 weeks on a low protein diet. This selective loss did not occur in bone marrow where total CFUs remained proportional to cellular content. Yet a third pattern was shown by thymus CFUs–although the numbers were low these increased from 16/thymus in normal mice to 132/thymus in deprived mice. This was the only organ examined which showed an increase. The effects of a return to a high protein (18 %) diet showed that the spleen was the most responsive organ. By day 5 after the return to 18% protein the spleen contained as many CFUs per million cells as the bone marrow. During this time the content of CFU in the spleen had increased some 50-fold whereas bone marrow CFUs only doubled. The spleen assumes the major reconstitutive role during the refeeding process.     

Study of mechanisms of anti-irradiation effects of interleukin-1beta in long-term bone marrow cultures

The influence of betaleukin (human recombinant interleukin-1 beta) on the processes of postirradiation recovery of haemopoietic precursors (GM-CFC) and the level of granulocyte-macrophag colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were studied in long-term bone marrow cultures after gamma-irradiation with a dose 2 Gy. Then the betaleukin action on the contents of GM-CFC and induction of GM-CSF in the non irradiated cultures was studied. It was shown that betaleukin increased the induction of GM-CSF and raised the contents of GM-CFC in long-term bone marrow cultures, and the maximal increase of a GM-CSF level and GM-CFC amount was marked in 20 hours after introduction. At an irradiation of long-term bone marrow cultures in conditions of betaleukin introduction 20 hours prior to influence of radiation the smaller degree of damage and faster recovery of GM-CFC was observed. The data in this report suggest that one of the mechanisms of antiirradiation action of betaleukin apparently is connected to the action of the preparation on hematopoietic microenvironment cellular elements, that causes the release of a colony-stimulating factor and stimulation of recovery of haemopoietic precursors.     

Enhanced Post-Irradiation Recovery of the Haemopoietic System In Animals Pretreated With A Variety of Cytotoxic Agents

It is known that pretreatment of mice with bacterial endotoxin and certain stathmokinetic agents between 1 and 3 days prior to exposure to ionizing radiation reduce radiation lethality. In this communication it is shown that pretreatment with cytosine arabinoside, methotrexate, nortestosterone and chlorambucil reduces radiation (1000 rad) induced lethality. This reduction can be ascribed to enhanced regeneration of the haemopoietic system in pretreated animals and not to increased survival of colony-forming cells (CFU) in these animals. Regeneration of CFUs was underway within 24 hr after 900 rad in the pretreated mice but did not start until day 3 in mice treated with γ radiation only. Two agents, namely radiation itself (either 75 or 150 rad) and busulphan (10 mg/kg) did not reduce the lethal effects of subsequent γ irradiation nor enhance the regeneration of CFUs, even though radiation, like the protective cytosine arabinoside, induces early CFUs proliferation. The administration of nucleoside precursors of DNA enhanced regrowth of haemopoietic stem cells to an extent comparable with that of the most effective pretreatment, cytosine arabinoside. It is postulated that drugs like cytosine arabinoside operate by causing cell death, providing a source of DNA that can enhance the regrowth of surviving stem cells in the bone marrow.     

Explantation, incubation and reimplantation of bone marrow cells as a means of treating acute radiation sickness in various species of animals

In experiments with mice, rats, guinea pigs, and dogs subjected to whole-body irradiation a favourable effect of postirradiation explantation, incubation, under suboptimal conditions, and reimplantation of bone marrow cells was shown. The effect was perhaps associated with the enhanced recovery of stem cells, their primary differentiation into a granulocytic series, and activation of bone marrow regeneration.     

The granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and the radiation protective effect of yeast mannan

The effect of mannan polysaccharide on the haemopoiesis recovery in irradiated mice has been investigated. Mannan has been shown to exert both the protective and the stimulatory effect: it accelerates restoration of femur bone marrow cellularity and nucleate cell number in the peripheral blood and causes a larger initial yield and subsequent more rapid postirradiation dynamics of pluripotent haemopoietic stem cells and precursor cells of granulocytes and macrophages.     

Effect of the U-2 fraction of splenic extract from Horsfield's terrapin on the hematopoiesis of mammals

Intraperitoneal administration of a spleen extract from Testudo horsfieldi and its U-2 fraction increases the number of endogenous splenic haemopoietic colonies. The U-2 fraction administered to irradiated (4 Gy) mice increases the number of bone marrow CFUs. Bone marrow cells of exposed (4 Gy) mice preincubated in vitro with the U-2 fraction also increase the number of exogenous colonies in the recipient's spleen.     

Further studies on mobilization of CFUs.

Mobilization of CFUs from haemopoietic tissues into circulation was studied after injection of different bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS), zymosan, phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A), trypsin and di-isopropyl-fluorophosphate-inhibited trypsin. All bacterial LPS used gave an increase of CFUs in the peripheral blood at 1 h after i.v. injection. Some variation in activity could not be excluded. As with Salmonella typhosa LPS, zymosan gave an increase in circulating CFUs during the first few hr and a second peak a few days later. After injection of zymosan as well as S. typhosa LPS the second peak in the blood was accompanied by a large increase in CFUs numbers in the spleen. PHA gave an immediate mobilization of CFUs, but the mobilization after injection of Con A during the first few hr occurred more slowly. After injection of S. typhosa LPS, zymosan and PHA the blood C3 level was found to be depressed considerably. This might indicate that the complement system is involved in the early mobilization of CFUs. Dexamethasone, a synthetic hormone which has been reported to give sequestration of several cell types in the bone marrow, did not inhibit the early and late mobilization of CFUs which normally occurs after injection of S. typhosa LPS.