Regulation of blood cell diferentiation.

The hemopoietic (blood forming) system contains pluripotent stem cells able to give rise to a variety of differentiated progeny, including erythrocytes, granulocytes, megakaryocytes, monocytes, macrophages, and possible other cell types. Although a good deal is known about cell lineage relationships in the hemopoietic system, only limited information is available about the mechanisms regulating the proliferation and differentiation of the stem cells and their progeny. An approach to this latter problem has been provided by the develoment of new techniques for the cultivation of hemopoietic cells in short-term cultures. In such cultures, the proliferation and differentiation of hemopoietic cells can be studied under controlled conditions. Two areas of investigation show particular promise: elucidation of the role of the cell surface membrane in regulation; and the possible development, through a detailed investigation of the properties of leukoviruses, of new methods for the genetic analysis of hemopoietic cells.     

Stromal cells of hemopoietic origin

Hemopoiesis is a multistep process involving stem cell renewal, commitment, differentiation, maturation and consequent positioning of the cells within the tissue. Stromal cells are a major component of the hemopoietic microenvironment. The in vitro culture of cloned stromal cells has enabled detailed analysis of their functions and has provided answers relating to the contribution of stromal cells to the control of hemopoiesis. Cultured stromal cells were found to support the renewal of stem cells through a mechanism that did not seem to involve already known cytokines. Cloned stromal cells from both marrow and thymus supported the in vitro accumulation of myeloid as well as T and B lymphoid cells. Thus, cloned stromal cells had the ability to induce multilineage hemopoiesis, irrespective of the organ from which they were derived. Invariably, stromal cells tended to select in culture for hemopoietic cells at early differentiation stages and restricted the accumulation of mature cells. These functions may be part of the mechanism that protects the stem cell pool from excess differentiation.     

Association of reticular cells with CD34+/Sca-1+ apoptotic cells in the hemopoietic organ of grasshopper, Euprepocnemis shirakii

Hemopoiesis in orthopteran insects occurs in a hemopoietic organ that is located bilaterally along the aorta. This organ is also known as a reticulo-hemopoietic organ because of the rich presence of reticular cells. This study was performed to further elucidate hemopoiesis in the reticulo-hemopoietic organ of an orthopteran, Euprepocnemis shirakii. We focused on the question why reticular cells are so abundant (35% of cells in hemopoietic organ). Interestingly, 21% of these reticular cells surrounded hemocytes with their reticular cytoplasm. The surrounded hemocytes were distinguished by their different size and darkly stained nucleus. These cells were characterized by immunostaining using antibodies against several types of hemocytes: 45% of the surrounded hemocytes were CD34+, and these positive cells were double stained (over 85%) when immunostained by another hemopoietic pluripotent cell marker, Sca-1. Transmission electron microscopic analysis showed that reticular cells surrounded hemocytes containing large nuclei and poorly developed cytoplasmic organelles. This strongly suggests that the reticular cells surround hemopoietic stem cells. Additionally, surrounded hemopoietic progenitor cells are undergoing apoptosis as indicated by the TUNEL assay. The enclosed apoptotic cells are engulfed and then phagocytosed by reticular cells. Our results suggest that reticular cells are related to the differentiation and apoptosis of hemopoietic stem cells.     

Relationship between hematopoietic stem differentiation and the functional state of the thymus]

The direction of differentiation of the stem cells with respect to the physiological activity of thymus determined by the age of an animal was studied by means of histological analysis of hemopoietic colonies in the spleen of lethally irradiated mice. The immaturity of thymus of its involution are characterized by the inhibition of differentiation of the stem cell along the granuloid path. An analysis of the data on differentiation of the stem cells in mice of different age, as well as in thymectomized mice allows to draw a conclusion that the process of differentiation of the hemopoietic stem cells is thymus-dependent.     

Molecular-genetic and immunophenotypic analysis of antigen profile and osteogenic and adipogenic potentials of mesenchymal stromal cells from fetal liver and adult bone marrow in rats

Comparative characteristics of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from adult bone marrow and fetal liver are of great interest due to the similar functions performed by these organs on the organization of a hemopoietic microenvironment at various developmental periods. It is known that MSCs play a pivotal role in the formation of niches for hemopoietic stem cells. The histogenetic relation of MSCs from these two hemopoietic organs cannot be ruled out. An analysis of antigen profile using immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR has confirmed that the studied cell populations fit the MSC criteria and have no contaminations of hemopoietic, lymphoid, and endothelial cells beginning at the second passage. Comparative analysis of osteogenic and adipogenic marker expression revealed MSC from fetal liver to have a weaker potential for adipogenesis and the extremely low capability for terminal osteogenic differentiation, in contrast to pronounced osteo- and adipogenic potentials of adult bone marrow MSC. The similar cell phenotype but different differentiation potentials under identical conditions of cultivation in vitro seem to be due to different developmental programs of the pre- and postnatal histogenesis of these MSC.     

Compensatory adjustment of hemopoietic stem cell pool of CBA mice after acute intake of 90Sr

It was investigated the functional status of stem cell pool (CFUs) of bone marrow, spleen and peripheral blood in mice (CBA) in early (1-30 days) and late (180-360 days) period after acute intake of 90Sr (29.6 kBq/g). Cumulative dose in red bone marrow due to incorporated 90Sr was 0.98-87.7 Gy. The kinetics, proliferative and differentiative potential of stem hemopoietic cells (CFUs) and productivity of hemopoietic tissues were significantly influenced by dose rate, absorbed dose and degree of suppresssion of bone marrow functions.The obtained results indicated that the sarcomogenous doses of 90Sr (29.6 kBq/g) resulted in realization of compensatory reactions in hemopoietic stem cell pool to support the life ability of irradiated animals: higher proliferative potential of CFUs and its repopulation, redistribution of cell subpopulations during differentiation and activation of spleens hemopoiesis.     

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 need of B-helpers for the T-lymphocyte regulation of the process of hematopoietic stem cell differentiation

We have detected and characterized a subpopulation of immunoregulatory cells, i.e., B-helpers capable to enhance the activity of Td-lymphocytes and controlling differentiation of syngeneic hemopoietic stem cells in mouse spleen and bone marrow. B-helpers found in the spleen and lymphatic nodes are resistant to radiation (at a dose of 6 Gr) but are impaired when irradiated at 9 Gr. Manifestation of the helper activity does not require either DNA or RNA synthesis but depends on protein synthesis and is mediated by soluble transmitter substances. Initial activation of B-helpers by lipopolysaccharide or alloantigens does not affect their helper functions. In the absence of T-lymphocytes B-cells do not affect differentiation of hemopoietic stem cells; interaction of B-helpers with differentiating Td-lymphocytes is not genetically restricted. Using preparative electrophoresis, we could isolate fractions of Td-lymphocytes which require or do not require B-helper cells in order to induce change in differentiation of hemopoietic stem cells from mainly erythroid to preferentially granulocyte pathway.     

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.     

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.     

Factors controlling the recirculation of hematopoietic stem cells. IV. The effect of thymosin on the migration and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells

Thymosine, a thymus hormone, restores the thymectomy induced deterioration of the routine pathways of migration and differentiation ofhemopoietic stem cells in mice. Administration of thymosine together with bone marrow cells from thymectomized mice to irradiated recipients also restores the level of migration and differentiation of hemopoietic stem cells. The inducing effect of thymosine on the maturation of T-lymphocyte precursors, which in their turn restore the usual rate of migration and differentiation of hemopoietic stem cells, has been suggested.     

Fine Structure of the Hemopoietic Tissues in the Mealworm Beetle, Tenebrio molitor

The fine structure of the hemopoietic tissue and its detailed reticular organization in the mealworm beetle, T. molitor were examined using light and scanning electron microscopes. The major hemopoietic tissues in the abdomen were located on the upper surface of the dorsal diaphragm which continuous over the ventral wall of the heart. Histologic characteristics of this hemopoietic tissues are dense clusters of cells. They are irregular in outline and are not surrounded by any connective tissue sheath. The hemopoietic tissue of this insect is consisted of three cellular components which are the reticular cells, hemocytic stem cells and several kinds of mature hemocytes. The reticular cells had numerous cytoplasmic processes and forming a complex network. The stem cells give rise to differentiating hemocytes of the different cell lineages. Mature hemocytes within this hemopoietic tissue are originated from the stem cells and differentiated into several types of hemocytes including prohemocytes, plasmatocytes, and granulocytes.     

Substrate elasticity provides mechanical signals for the expansion of hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells

Surprisingly little is known about the effects of the physical microenvironment on hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells. To explore the physical effects of matrix elasticity on well-characterized primitive hemopoietic cells, we made use of a uniquely elastic biomaterial, tropoelastin. Culturing mouse or human hemopoietic cells on a tropoelastin substrate led to a two- to threefold expansion of undifferentiated cells, including progenitors and mouse stem cells. Treatment with cytokines in the presence of tropoelastin had an additive effect on this expansion. These biological effects required substrate elasticity, as neither truncated nor cross-linked tropoelastin reproduced the phenomenon, and inhibition of mechanotransduction abrogated the effects. Our data suggest that substrate elasticity and tensegrity are important mechanisms influencing hemopoietic stem and progenitor cell subsets and could be exploited to facilitate cell culture.     

Location of hemopoietic stem cells influences frequency of lymphoid engraftment in Xenopus embryos

The first hemopoietic stem cells to differentiate in Xenopus embryos arise from ventral blood island (VBI) mesoderm. Progeny of these stem cells contribute to larval E, macrophage, thymocyte, and B lymphocyte populations. When small pieces of mesoderm are transplanted to a central location within the VBI, the contribution of this mesoderm is predominantly to erythropoiesis and engraftment of lymphoid populations is minimal. The present experiments examined the influence of position within the VBI on the contribution of single stem cells to lymphoid populations. Pieces of diploid VBI mesoderm, containing an average of one hemopoietic stem cell, were transplanted to either a central or a peripheral location within the defined boundaries of the VBI of triploid, stage matched embryos. The number of animals with donor-derived cells in lymphoid populations was markedly increased when stem cells were grafted to a peripheral position. In three cases, stem cells contributed to lymphoid populations at the exclusion of erythroid populations. These data were consistent with the notion of either a lymphoid stem cell or restricted B and T lymphocyte precursors. These data also suggested that during embryogenesis, stochastic differentiation of hemopoietic stem cells was influenced by regional differences in the VBI microenvironment.     

Differentiating embryonal stem cells are a rich source of haemopoietic gene products and suggest erythroid preconditioning of primitive haemopoietic stem cells

The difficulties associated with studying molecular mechanisms important in hemopoietic stem cell (HSC) function such as the problems of purifying homogeneous stem cell populations, have prompted us to adapt the murine ES cell system as an in vitro model of HSC generation and function. We now report that careful analysis of the time course of HSC generation in differentiating ES cells allows them to be used as a source of known and novel hemopoietic gene products. We have generated a subtracted library using cDNA from ES cells collected just prior to and just following the emergence of HSCs. Analysis of this library shows it to be a rich source of known hemopoietic and hemopoietic related gene products with 44% of identifiable cDNAs falling into these camps. We have demonstrated the value of this system as a source of novel genes of relevance to HSC function by characterizing a novel membrane protein encoding cDNA that is preferentially expressed in primitive hemopoietic cells. Intriguingly, further analysis of the known components of the subtracted library is suggestive of erythroid preconditioning of the ES cell-derived HSC. We have used dot-blot and in situ analysis to indicate that this erythroid preconditioning is probably restricted to primitive but not definitive HSC.     

Interrelation of the osteogenic and hemopoietic tissues of the bone marrow during the development of estrogenic myelofibrosis

By means of estrogenic myelofibrosis, using the method of heterotopic transplantation of the bone marrow, interrelations of osteogenic and hemopoietic tissues have been studied. Under estrone effect disorders in stromal microenvironment take place at the level of stem osteogenic cells of the bone marrow. Deficiency in cells of monocytic-macrophagal line, inhibiting proliferation of the bone marrow connective tissue cells, contributes to development of myelofibrosis. The hormone acts mainly in committed hemopoietic cells, singly launching them from G0- into S-period of the cycle, and then--into differentiation, accompanied with an enhanced discharge of cells from the bone marrow. There is neither direct, nor indirect dependence between the osteogenic mass and the cellularity of the hemopoietic tissue of the bone marrow. The changes, that take place in the bone marrow under estrone effect, are reversible.     

Congenitally osteosclerotic (os/os) rabbits are not cured by bone marrow transplantation from normal littermates.

The osteopetrotic (os) rabbit is a lethal mutation of autosomal recessive inheritance characterized by hypocalcemia, hypophosphatemia, fibrosis of marrow spaces, and ultrastructural abnormalities in both osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Procedures involving the transplantation of cells from normal hemopoietic tissues, which are sources of osteoclast precursors, are known to cure osteopetrosis in several mutations including some children. We tested the ability of transplanted bone marrow and/or spleen from normal littermates to reverse the skeletal sclerosis in os rabbits. Treatment of 15 neonatal mutants consisted of immunosuppression by whole-body irradiation followed by transplantation of normal bone marrow and/or spleen cell suspensions. This treatment failed to prolong life span or to cure osteopetrosis judged radiographically and histologically for up to 3 weeks posttreatment, the longest time of survival. These data indicate that transplantation of stem cells from multiple hemopoietic tissues, procedures known to cure osteopetrosis in other mutations, is not effective in the os rabbit. These results support the hypothesis that the skeletal microenvironment is not capable of supporting the development and function of normal osteoclasts in this mutation.     

Experimental Studies on Hemopoiesis in the Pronephros of Rana pipiens

Embryogenesis of hemopoietic cell populations in the pronephros of Rana pipiens was examined during embryonic and early larval development. Differential cell counts of Wright-Giemsa-stained cell suspensions demonstrated that granulopoiesis is the predominant hemopoietic activity in the pronephros, erythropoiesis accounts for a minor component of the hemopoietic activity (> 10%), and lymphopoiesis within the organ is negligible. Microdensitometric analysis of Feulgen-DNA stained granulocyte populations in pronephroses from larvae that had received chromosomally labeled pronephric anlagen transplants between 84 and 96 h of development demonstrated that hemopoiesis in this organ is dependent on colonization by an extrinsic hemopoietic stem cell. A similar analysis of pronephric hemopoiesis in larvae which had received chromosomally labeled, presumptive ventral blood island transplants between 62 and 67 h of development, indicates that granulopoietic cells are not derived from the embryonic blood islands. It is proposed that the pronephros may be the initial site of granulocyte differentiation during early embryogenesis. Although the embryonic origin of the hemopoietic stem cell is unknown, indirect evidence from this study indicates a dorsal stem cell compartment     

Experimental studies on hemopoiesis in the pronephros of Rana pipiens.

Embryogenesis of hemopoietic cell populations in the pronephros of Rana pipiens was examined during embryonic and early larval development. Differential cell counts of Wright-Giemsa-stained cell suspensions demonstrated that granulopoiesis is the predominant hemopoietic activity in the pronephros, erythropoiesis accounts for a minor component of the hemopoietic activity (less than 10%), and lymphopoiesis within the organ is negligible. Microdensitometric analysis of Feulgen-DNA stained granulocyte populations in pronephroses from larvae that had received chromosomally labeled pronephric analgen transplants between 84 and 96 h of development demonstrated that hemopoiesis in this organ is dependent on colonization by an extrinsic hemopoietic stem cell. A similar analysis of pronephric hemopoiesis in larvae which had received chromosomally labeled, presumptive ventral blood island transplants between 62 and 67 h of development, indicates that granulopoietic cells are not derived from the embryonic blood islands. It is proposed that the pronephros may be the initial site of granulocyte differentiation during early embryogenesis. Although the embryonic origin of the hemopoietic stem cell is unknown, indirect evidence from this study indicates a dorsal stem cell compartment.