Co-stimulatory effects of steel factor, the c-kit ligand, on purified human hematopoietic progenitors in low cell density culture.
Steel factor (SF), the ligand for the c-kit, also called kit ligand, stem cell factor, or mast cell growth factor, was evaluated on colony formation alone or in combination with other cytokines, from purified human hematopoietic CD34+ cells in low density cell culture. SF alone had a slight effect on granulocyte (G) and macrophage (M) colony formation. It synergized with other cytokines on colony formation from colony-forming unit-granulocyte, erythroid, macrophage, megakaryocyte (CFU-GEMM), erythroid and granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) progenitors. However, combination of SF with lineage-specific factors, such as erythropoietin (Epo) or/and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was not sufficient for the proliferation of multipotential progenitors (CFU-GEMM). These multipotential progenitors required the presence of multi-lineage factors, such as interleukin 3 (IL3) or granulocytic-macrophage CSF(GM-CSF) for their development.