Developments in modern hematology.

In the past 40 years our concepts about hemopoiesis have been changed dramatically. The results of bone marrow transplantation into lethally irradiated mice since the mid-fifties suggested the existence of a hemopoietic stem cell, which was initially identified as a spleen colony forming cell (CFU-S). Later experiments showed that the stem cell compartment is rather heterogeneous and that the most primitive stem cell, unlike the CFU-S, has the ability for long-term engraftment of an irradiated recipient. Daughter cells of such primitive quiescent stem cells lose their capacity for self-generation gradually with each mitosis and become more and more committed to a specific differentiation lineage. In vitro culture techniques in a serum-free semi-solid medium enabled the establishment and analysis of specific hemopoietic growth factors. Such factors, which are essential for the maintenance, proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cells and the functional activity of mature cells can now be produced with recombinant DNA techniques in pure form and large quantities. Hemopoiesis requires an appropriate microenvironment, consisting of various stromal cell types and an extracellular matrix. Intercellular contacts, adhesion of cells and growth factors to the matrix molecules seem essential in the regulating action of this hemopoietic microenvironment. In long-term bone marrow cultures the development of a stromal hemopoietic microenvironment can facilitate long-term maintenance of stem cells and hemopoietic differentiation. For bone marrow transplantation and infusion of hemopoietic growth factors many clinical indications are well established and our possibilities to interfere in the regulation of hemopoiesis are still growing.     

Permissive role of interleukin 3 (IL-3) in proliferation and differentiation of multipotential hemopoietic progenitors in culture

We studied the effects of interleukin-3 (IL-3) on colony formation by hemopoietic progenitors in methylcellulose cultures of spleen cells from 5-fluorouracil (FU)-treated mice. Purified IL-3 supported the growth of various types of multilineage colonies including blast cell colonies. The types of colonies were similar to those supported by pokeweed-mitogen spleen cell conditioned medium (PWM-SCM), except that IL-3 supported eosinophil and neutrophil expression better. Delayed addition of IL-3 to cultures 7 days after cell plating decreased the number of colonies to one-half the number in cultures with IL-3 added on day 0. It did not alter the proliferative and differentiation characteristics of late emerging multipotential blast cell colonies. These observations suggest that IL-3 does not trigger hemopoietic progenitors into active cell proliferation but is necessary for their continued proliferation. This permissive role of IL-3 is consistent with a stochastic model of stem cell proliferation which features random entry into cell cycle. IL-3 also supported the growth of multilineage colonies from single cells isolated from blast cell colonies by micromanipulation. This result shows that IL-3 acts directly on multipotential progenitors. Analysis of colonies derived from paired progenitors revealed disparate lineage expression and was in accordance with the stochastic model of stem cell differentiation.     

Identification of the interleukin-3 receptor using an iodinatable, cleavable, photoreactive cross-linking agent

Murine interleukin-3 (mIL-3) is a lymphokine that stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of both pluripotent hemopoietic stem cells and their committed progeny. However, very little is known about the mechanism by which this growth factor elicits its effects on responsive cell populations. To gain insight into early events following mIL-3 receptor interaction, we initiated studies to isolate the receptor and study its properties. In this report, we demonstrate the use of a new iodinatable, cleavable, photoreactive cross-linking agent, sulfosuccinimidyl 2-(p-azidosalicylamido)-1,3'-dithiopropionate to identify the mIL-3 receptor. These studies reveal the mIL-3 receptor to be a single polypeptide chain with a molecular weight of 67 kDa and an isoelectric point of approximately 6.2.     

Pluripotential stem cell replication in continuous human, prosimian, and murine bone marrow culture

Prolonged replication of pluripotential stem cells and committed progenitor cells is sustained for prolonged periods in a murine marrow culture system. Alterations in stem cell replication and differentiation are observed after infection of the cultures with Friend virus and Kirsten sarcoma virus consistent with transformation of pluripotential stem cells in the first case and transformation of the macrophage component of the hemopoietic microenvironment in the second. Prolonged myelopoiesis and CFU-c proliferation was also observed in continuous human and prosimian marrow cultures, suggesting the applicability of this technique for analysis of stem cell control and in vitro leukemogenesis in species other than the mouse.     

Signaling networks in hepatic oval cell activation

Oval cells are hypothesized to be the progeny of intrahepatic stem cells, also referred to as adult liver stem cells. The mechanisms by which these cells are activated to proliferate and differentiate during liver regeneration is important for the development of new therapies to treat liver disease. Oval cell activation is the first step in progenitor-dependent liver regeneration in response to certain types of injury. This review describes what is currently known about the factors involved in oval cell activation, proliferation, migration, and differentiation.     

Different effect of testosterone on polypotential stem hematopoietic stem cells and immunocompetent B-lymphocytes]

A research was made to study the dynamics of the proliferative, colony-forming and migration capacity of stem hemopoietic cells in (CBA X C57Bl) F1 hybrid mice under the influence of testosterone propionate, 10 mg/100 g, as well as the migration of immunocompetent B lymphocytes from the bone marrow to the spleen and the accumlation of their progeny, antibody-producing cells, in the spleen. The immunodepressive effect of testosterone was manifested by a decrease in the migration of B cells and the number of antibody-producing cells in the spleen. On the contrary, testosterone had a stimulating effect on the functional activity of stem hemopoietic cells, increasing their proliferation and migration. Under conditions of the suppressed erythropoietic differentiation of multipotent stem hemopoietic cells the injection of testosterone resulted in an increase in the number of antibody-producing cells in the spleen. This suggests that the stimulation of erythropoiesis and immunosuppression, induced by testosterone, are interconnected and determined by the direct action of the hormone on the cellular cycle of the stem cells, as well as by their prevailing differentiation towards the erythroid series, resulting in the decrease of their differentiation into B cells.     

The renewal and differentiation of hemopoietic stem cells.

Blood-forming tissues are organized in well-defined microenvironments composed of hemopoietic cells and a supportive stroma of connective tissue and endothelium. Hemopoietic cells segregate to various lineages, all derived from a small population of pluripotent stem cells residing in the bone marrow. Regulation of growth and differentiation, particularly under conditions of perturbations, damage, and disease, is mediated by inducer colony-stimulating factors and interleukins counteracted by inhibitory cytokines. Whereas much is known about the mode of induction of differentiation, insufficient information is available to explain the process of stem cell renewal that is crucial for the longevity of the hemopoietic system. It is also only partially known how inhibition of hemopoietic processes occurs, and what molecules in blood-forming tissues signal organization into discrete patterns. This paper reviews recent progress that has opened new avenues to a better understanding of this highly complex issue.     

SCI/MIP-1 alpha: a potent stem cell inhibitor with potential roles in development.

The hemopoietic system represents a complex adult developmental system which allows the study of mechanisms of stem cell proliferative control and differentiation commitment. It is likely that information obtained from this model system will have implications for control processes regulating other hierarchical systems in the developing embryo as well as in the adult animal. We have recently identified and isolated a potent inhibitor of hemopoietic stem cell proliferation which we have labeled SCI/MIP-1 alpha. This inhibitor is also active on clonogenic epidermal cells and may thus be a more general stem cell inhibitor than was previously believed. The biology of this peptide is outlined in more detail below and the potential roles for such a factor in the developing embryo are also discussed.     

Generation of osteoclasts from hemopoietic cells and a multipotential cell line in vitro

Osteoclasts are the cells that resorb bone. It is generally presumed, on the basis of indirect experiments, that they are derived from the hemopoietic stem cell. However, this origin has never been established. We have developed an assay for osteoclastic differentiation in which bone marrow cells are incubated in liquid culture on slices of cortical bone. The bone slices are inspected in the scanning electron microscope after incubation for the presence of excavations, which are characteristic of osteoclastic activity. We have now incubated bone marrow cells at low density, or a factor-dependent mouse hemopoietic cell line (FDCP-mix A4) with 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 (a hormone which we have previously found induces osteoclastic differentiation) with and without murine bone marrow stromal cells, or with and without 3T3 cells, on bone slices. Neither the bone marrow cells nor the bone marrow stromal cells alone developed osteoclastic function even in the presence of 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3. However, extensive excavation of the bone surface was observed, only in the presence of 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3, on bone slices on which bone marrow stromal cells were cocultured with low-density bone marrow cells or the hemopoietic cell line. Similar results were obtained when the bone marrow stromal cells were killed by glutaraldehyde fixation; 3T3 cells were unable to substitute for stromal cells. These results are strong evidence that osteoclasts derive from the hemopoietic stem cell and suggest that although mature osteoclasts possess neither receptors for nor responsiveness to 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3, the hormone induces osteoclastic function through a direct effect on hemopoietic cells rather than through some accessory cell in the bone marrow stroma. The failure of 3T3 cells, which enable differentiation of other hemopoietic progeny from this cell line, to induce osteoclastic differentiation suggests that bone marrow stroma possesses additional characteristics distinct from those that induce differentiation of other hemopoietic cells that are specifically required for osteoclastic differentiation.     

Synergism between hemopoietic growth factors (HGFs) detected by their effects on cells bearing receptors for a lineage specific HGF: assay of hemopoietin-1

The preceding paper describes a new approach to the detection and assay of growth factors for developmentally early multipotent hemopoietic cells (Bartelmez et al., J. Cell. Physiol., 1985). This approach, involving measurement of the increase in the number of receptors for the mononuclear phagocyte specific hemopoietic growth factor (HGF), colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1), in cultures of developmentally early murine cells incubated with putative HGFs, has been used to define and assay hemopoietin-1. Hemopoietin-1 (Mr approximately 20,000) is found in the medium derived from serum-free cultures of cells of the human urinary bladder carcinoma line 5637. In contrast to both hemopoietin-2 and CSF-1, which also stimulate an increase in CSF-1 receptor numbers in cultures of developmentally early hemopoietic cells, hemopoietin-1 alone has no detectable effect. However, hemopoietin-1 exhibits dramatic synergism with CSF-1. In the presence of CSF-1, hemopoietin-1 stimulates the proliferation of developmentally earlier cells than those that respond to either CSF-1 alone or hemopoietin-2 alone or their combination. These cells proliferate for at least 3 days with no alteration of the average CSF-1 receptor density. However, by 5 days of incubation, the progeny of developmentally early hemopoietic cells that have proliferated in response to hemopoietin-1 + CSF-1 exhibit an approximately tenfold increase in the average CSF-1 receptor density per cell, which immediately precedes their differentiation to adherent mononuclear phagocytes. As hemopoietin-1 does not possess colony stimulating or burst promoting activities for murine bone marrow cells, but acts on multipotent hemopoietic cells, the analysis of the mechanism of its synergistic effects with HGFs such as CSF-1 are of special relevance to the regulation of early events in hemopoiesis.     

Introduction of macromolecules into hemopoietic stem cells with an erythrocyte-ghost-mediated system

We have developed a method of introduction of macromolecules into normal human hemopoietic stem cells. The erythrocyte ghosts were loaded with diphtheria toxin fragment A (molecular weight = 22,000 daltons), which exerts cytotoxicity only in the intracellular space. Granulocyte-macrophage colonies of human bone marrow cells incubated with the above ghosts in the presence of Sendai virus decreased in number to about 10% of the control. This means that the cell fusion and the subsequent introduction of the fragment A into granulocyte-macrophage progenitors occurred at a high incidence (about 90%). This method will be useful to study intracellular events during the proliferation and differentiation of hemopoietic stem cells.     

Analytic formulas for discrete stochastic models of cell populations with both differentiation and de-differentiation

Cell differentiation often appears to be a stochastic process particularly in the hemopoietic system. One of the earliest stochastic models for the growth of stem cell populations was proposed by Till et al. in 1964. In this model there are just two cell types: stem cells and specialized cells. At each time step there is a fixed probability that a stem cell differentiates into a specialized cell and a fixed probability that it undergoes mitosis to produce two stem cells. Even though this model is conceptually simple the myriad of possible outcomes has made it difficult to analyse. We present original closed-form expressions for the probability functions and a fast algorithm for computing them. Renewed interest in stem cells has raised questions about the effect de-differentiation has on stem cell populations. We have extended the stochastic model to include de-differentiation and show that even a small amount of de-differentiation can have a large effect on stem cell population growth.     

Potential of Herpesvirus Saimiri-Based Vectors To Reprogram a Somatic Ewing's Sarcoma Family Tumor Cell Line

Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) infects a range of human cell types with high efficiency. Upon infection, the viral genome can persist as high-copy-number, circular, nonintegrated episomes that segregate to progeny cells upon division. This allows HVS-based vectors to stably transduce a dividing cell population and provide sustained transgene expression in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the HVS episome is able to persist and provide prolonged transgene expression during in vitro differentiation of mouse and human hemopoietic progenitor cells. Together, these properties are advantageous for induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, whereby stem cell-like cells are generated from adult somatic cells by exogenous expression of specific reprogramming factors. Here we assess the potential of HVS-based vectors for the generation of induced pluripotent cancer stem-like cells (iPCs). We demonstrate that HVS-based exogenous delivery of Oct4, Nanog, and Lin28 can reprogram the Ewing''s sarcoma family tumor cell line A673 to produce stem cell-like colonies that can grow under feeder-free stem cell culture conditions. Further analysis of the HVS-derived putative iPCs showed some degree of reprogramming into a stem cell-like state. Specifically, the putative iPCs had a number of embryonic stem cell characteristics, staining positive for alkaline phosphatase and SSEA4, in addition to expressing elevated levels of pluripotent marker genes involved in proliferation and self-renewal. However, differentiation trials suggest that although the HVS-derived putative iPCs are capable of differentiation toward the ectodermal lineage, they do not exhibit pluripotency. Therefore, they are hereby termed induced multipotent cancer cells.     

Monitoring stem cell proliferation and differentiation in primary midgut cell cultures from Heliothis virescens larvae using flow cytometry

In the midgut of Heliothis virescens larvae, proliferation and differentiation of stem cell populations allow for midgut growth and regeneration. Basic epithelial regenerative function can be assessed in vitro by purifying these two cell type populations, yet efficient high throughput methods to monitor midgut stem cell proliferation and differentiation are not available. We describe a flow cytometry method to differentiate stem from mature midgut cells and use it to monitor proliferation, differentiation and death in primary midgut stem cell cultures from H. virescens larvae. Our method is based on differential light scattering and vital stain fluorescence properties to distinguish between stem and mature midgut cells. Using this method, we monitored proliferation and differentiation of H. virescens midgut cells cultured in the presence of fetal bovine serum (FBS) or AlbuMAX II. Supplementation with FBS resulted in increased stem cell differentiation after 5 days of culture, while AlbuMAX II-supplemented medium promoted stem cell proliferation. These data demonstrate utility of our flow cytometry method for studying stem cell-based epithelial regeneration, and indicate that AlbuMAX II-supplemented medium may be used to maintain pluripotency in primary midgut stem cell cultures.     

Terminal differentiation of hemopoietic cell clones cultured in tridimensional collagen matrix: in situ cell morphology and enzyme histochemistry analysis

Collagen, a major component of the extracellular matrix in vivo, has been used as a tridimensional gel matrix for cultured hemopoietic clones. Its resemblance to the natural matrix produced by cells makes it ideal for studies on proliferation and differentiation of hemopoietic lineages. Every lineage, including granulocytes (basophilic, eosinophilic and neutrophilic polymorphs) monocyte-macrophages, megakaryocytes, erythroid and lymphoid lineages could be grown using a standardized collagen medium, provided that specific stimulators were added in the culture. Clones were scored on either live or fixed cultures. Compared to other gel substrates, collagen matrix proved superior for cell proliferation and maturation. Additional advantages (in situ clonal analysis by histological staining, enzyme cytochemistry), and other possibilities of the method are reported and discussed. The system offers great potential for cellular immunology, hematology and molecular biology with peculiar reference to differentiation of normal hemopoietic cells, viral transformation and leukemogenesis in vitro. These applications are reviewed.     

The primary effects of clinorotation on cultured human mesenchymal stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are specific cells capable of long-term proliferation and differentiation into various stromal tissue cell types. The state of MSCs depends on the cellular microenvironment and several soluble factors. We proposed that gravity could, in addition, influence MSCs features. To prove this hypothesis, we studied the effects of prolonged clinorotation on cultured human MSC morphology, proliferation rate and expression of specific cellular markers. Human bone marrow-derived MSCs were isolated by Histopaque-1.077 density centrifugation and cultured in DMEM-LG with 10% FBS. MSC cultures were composed of fibroblastoid cells negative for hemopoietic cell markers and positive for ASMA, collagen-1, fibronectin, CD54, CD105 and CD106. Cells were exposed to clinorotation from 1 hour to 10 days. It was shown that the proliferative rate was decreased in experimental cultures as compared to cells growing in normal conditions. Clinorotated MSCs appeared more flattened and reached confluence at a lower cell density. The obtained results suggest that cultured human mesenchymal stem cells sense the changes in gravity vector and may respond to microgravity by altered functional activity.