Effect of retinoic acid on the differentiation and growth of murine mastocyte precursors

In cultures of normal mouse hematopoietic cells containing Interleukin-3 develop cells with many features of mast cells. These cells seem heterogeneous with respect to morphological and biochemical examination. Nevertheless, most of the cells show many granules and a low ability to self-renew. In the present report we describe the development of a blastic cell population, termed mastoblasts, when normal mouse hematopoietic cells are exposed continuously to retinoic acid (RA: 10(-6) to 10(-5) M/l). Using H*3-thymidine incorporation, cell cycle measurement and protein content by flow cytometry, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, we show that these cells seem to be of mast cell lineage but with a high self-renewing capability. So, RA is able to inhibit mast cell differentiation and to provide us a "mastoblastic" population which could be used as a model to study mast cell differentiation.