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S E Jacobsen

Publications and source records attributed to S E Jacobsen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Cellulose and hemicellulose hydrolysis models for application to current and novel pretreatment processes.

Acids catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose to produce sugars that organisms can ferment to ethanol and other products. However, advanced low- and no-acid technologies are critical if we are to reduce bio-ethanol costs to be competitive as a pure fuel. We believe carbohydrate oligomers play a key role in explaining the performance of such hydrolysis processes and that kinetic models would help us understand their role. Various investigations have developed reaction rate expressions based on an Arrhenius temperature dependence that is first order in substrate concentration and close to first order in acid concentration. In this article, we evaluate these existing hydrolysis models with the goal of providing a foundation for a unified model that can predict performance of both current and novel pretreatment process configurations.

Biomass↗

Distinct requirements for optimal growth and In vitro expansion of human CD34(+)CD38(-) bone marrow long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-IC), extended LTC-IC, and murine in vivo long-term reconstituting stem cells.

Recently, primitive human bone marrow (BM) progenitors supporting hematopoiesis in extended (>60 days) long-term BM cultures were identified. Such extended long-term culture-initiating cells (ELTC-IC) are of the CD34(+)CD38(-) phenotype, are quiescent, and are difficult to recruit into proliferation, implicating ELTC-IC as the most primitive human progenitor cells detectable in vitro. However, it remains to be established whether ELTC-IC can proliferate and potentially expand in response to early acting cytokines. Here, CD34(+)CD38(-) BM ELTC-IC (12-week) were efficiently recruited into proliferation and expanded in vitro in response to early acting cytokines, but conditions for expansion of ELTC-IC activity were distinct from those of traditional (5-week) LTC-IC and murine long-term repopulating cells. Whereas c-kit ligand (KL), interleukin-3 (IL-3), and IL-6 promoted proliferation and maintenance or expansion of murine long-term reconstituting activity and human LTC-IC, they dramatically depleted ELTC-IC activity. In contrast, KL, flt3 ligand (FL), and megakaryocyte growth and development factor (MGDF) (and KL + FL + IL-3) expanded murine long-term reconstituting activity as well as human LTC-IC and ELTC-IC. Expansion of LTC-IC was most optimal after 7 days of culture, whereas optimal expansion of ELTC-IC activity required 12 days, most likely reflecting the delayed recruitment of quiescent CD34(+)CD38(-) progenitors. The need for high concentrations of KL, FL, and MGDF (250 ng/mL each) and serum-free conditions was more critical for expansion of ELTC-IC than of LTC-IC. The distinct requirements for expansion of ELTC-IC activity when compared with traditional LTC-IC suggest that the ELTC-IC could prove more reliable as a predictor for true human stem cell activity after in vitro stem cell manipulation.

Animals↗

Lymphoid-restricted development from multipotent candidate murine stem cells: distinct and complimentary functions of the c-kit and flt3-ligands.

The two tyrosine kinase receptors, c-kit and flt3, and their respective ligands KL and FL, have been demonstrated to play key and nonredundant roles in regulating the earliest events in hematopoiesis. However, their precise roles and potential interactions in promoting early lymphoid commitment and development remain unclear. Here we show that most if not all murine Lin(-/lo)Sca1(+)c-kit(+) bone marrow (BM) cells generating B220(+)CD19(+) proB-cells in response to FL and interleukin-7 (IL-7) also have a myeloid potential. In contrast to FL + IL-7, KL + IL-7 could not promote proB-cell formation from Lin(-/lo)Sca1(+)c-kit(+) cells. However, KL potently enhanced FL + IL-7-stimulated proB-cell formation, in part through enhanced recruitment of FL + IL-7-unresponsive Lin(-/lo)Sca1(+)c-kit(+) progenitors, and in part by enhancing the growth of proB-cells. The enhanced recruitment (4-fold) in response to KL occurred exclusively from the Lin(-/lo)Sca1(+)c-kit(+)flt3(-) long-term repopulating stem cell population, whereas KL had no effect on FL + IL-7-stimulated recruitment of Lin(-/lo)Sca1(+)c-kit(+)flt3(+) short-term repopulating cells. The progeny of FL + IL-7-stimulated Lin(-/lo)Sca1(+)c-kit(+) cells lacked in vitro and in vivo myeloid potential, but efficiently reconstituted both B and T lymphopoiesis. In agreement with this FL, but not KL, efficiently induced expression of B220 and IL-7 receptor-alpha on Lin(-/lo)Sca1(+)c-kit(+)flt3(+) cells. Thus, whereas KL appears crucial for recruitment of FL + IL-7-unresponsive candidate (c-kit(+)flt3(-)) murine stem cells, FL is essential and sufficient for development toward lymphoid restricted progenitors from a population of (c-kit(+)flt3(+)) multipotent short-term reconstituting progenitors.

Animals↗

Involvement of the retinoblastoma protein in monocytic and neutrophilic lineage commitment of human bone marrow progenitor cells.

The retinoblastoma gene product (pRb) is involved in both cell cycle regulation and cell differentiation. pRb may have dual functions during cell differentiation: partly by promoting a cell cycle brake at G(1) and also by interacting with tissue-specific transcription factors. We recently showed that pRb mediates differentiation of leukemic cell lines involving mechanisms other than the induction of G(1) arrest. In the present study, we investigated the role of pRb in differentiation of human bone marrow progenitor cells. Human bone marrow cells were cultured in a colony-forming unit-granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) assay. The addition of antisense RB oligonucleotides (alpha-RB), but not the addition of sense orientated oligonucleotides (SO) or scrambled oligonucleotides (SCR), reduced the number of colonies staining for nonspecific esterase without affecting the clonogenic growth. Monocytic differentiation of CD34(+) cells supported by FLT3-ligand and interleukin-3 (IL-3) was correlated to high levels of hypophosphorylated pRb, whereas neutrophilic differentiation, supported by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and stem cell factor (SCF), was correlated to low levels. The addition of alpha-RB to liquid cultures of CD34(+) cells, supported with FLT3-ligand and IL-3, inhibited monocytic differentiation. This was judged by morphology, the expression of CD14, and staining for esterase. Moreover, the inhibition of monocytic differentiation of CD34(+) cells mediated by alpha-RB, which is capable of reducing pRb expression, was counterbalanced by an enhanced neutrophilic differentiation response, as judged by morphology and the expression of lactoferrin. CD34(+) cells incubated with oligo buffer, alpha-RB, SO, or SCR showed similar growth rates. Taken together, these data suggest that pRb plays a critical role in the monocytic and neutrophilic lineage commitment of human bone marrow progenitors, probably by mechanisms that are not strictly related to control of cell cycle progression.

Antigens, CD↗

Gene silencing: Maintaining methylation patterns.

Recent studies of an Arabidopsis gene family have shown that inverted repeats can be potent silencers of other identical sequences in the genome, causing them to become stably methylated at cytosine residues. From mutations affecting this process we are beginning to understand how methylation patterns are maintained.

Aldose-Ketose Isomerases↗

Disruption of an RNA helicase/RNAse III gene in Arabidopsis causes unregulated cell division in floral meristems.

Arabidopsis thaliana floral meristems are determinate structures that produce a defined number of organs, after which cell division ceases. A new recessive mutant, carpel factory (caf), converts the floral meristems to an indeterminate state. They produce extra whorls of stamens, and an indefinite number of carpels. Thus, CAF appears to suppress cell division in floral meristems. The function of CAF is partially redundant with the function of the CLAVATA (CLV) and SUPERMAN (SUP) genes, as caf clv and caf sup double mutants show dramatically enhanced floral meristem over-proliferation. caf mutant plants also show other defects, including absence of axillary inflorescence meristems, and abnormally shaped leaves and floral organs. The CAF gene was cloned and found to encode a putative protein of 1909 amino acids containing an N-terminal DExH/DEAD-box type RNA helicase domain attached to a C-terminal RNaseIII-like domain. A very similar protein of unknown function is encoded by a fungal and an animal genome. Helicase proteins are involved in a number of processes, including specific mRNA localization and mRNA splicing. RNase III proteins are involved in the processing of rRNA and some mRNA molecules. Thus CAF may act through some type of RNA processing event(s). CAF gives rise to two major transcripts of 2.5 and 6.2 kb. In situ hybridization experiments show that CAF RNA is expressed throughout all shoot tissues.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

SPINDLY's role in the gibberellin response pathway.

The SPINDLY (SPY) locus of Arabidopsis thaliana is believed to be involved in gibberellin (GA) signal transduction. The six known mutations at this locus cause a phenotype that is consistent with constitutive activation of the GA signal transduction pathway. spy alleles are epistatic to gai, a mutation conferring gibberellin-insensitivity, indicating that SPY acts as a negative regulator of GA signal transduction, downstream of GAI. SPY was cloned using a T-DNA insertion in the spy-4 allele. SPY encodes a 914 amino acid protein with an N-terminal TPR region (a likely protein-protein interaction domain) and a novel C-terminal domain. The spy mutants show that both the N- and C-terminal domains of SPY are functionally important, spy-4 is likely to be a null allele and displays some morphological defects not seen in the other alleles. A 35S:SPY construct rescues the spy mutant phenotype, but does not show any gain-of-function SPY phenotypes. Smaller constructs overexpressing different domains of the SPY protein have no effect on plant development.

Alleles↗

Performance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody test systems in relation to HCV-RNA detection in the diagnosis of HCV infection.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) test systems for screening and confirmation of blood donations have proved their value. The systems were later adopted for diagnosing patients suspected of hepatitis C. OBJECTIVES: 1) to study the clinical value of the recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) in routine diagnostics of patients suspected of HCV infection using HCV-PCR as the most definitive test and 2) to compare the performance of RIBA-2 with RIBA-3. MATERIALS: From May 1991 to August 1996 more than 4300 patients were tested for anti-HCV. All anti-HCV (EIA) positive patients were tested with RIBA-2 or RIBA-3 and HCV-PCR. RESULTS: We found no difference in the overall performance of RIBA-2 compared to RIBA-3. There was a tendency to fewer indeterminate results using RIBA-3 compared to RIBA-2 (5% vs. 9%), but this was not statistically significant. The NS5 band in RIBA-3 did not improve sensitivity or predictive value. Of RIBA-2 and RIBA-3 positive patients, 71% and 66% respectively were found to be HCV-RNA positive. Two samples that were negative using RIBA were HCV-RNA positive. CONCLUSION: RIBA testing in anti-HCV (EIA) positive patients added no clinically useful information to the screening results. We have therefore changed the diagnostic strategy so that all anti-HCV (EIA) positive patients are tested for HCV-RNA.

Hepacivirus↗

Bidirectional effect of interleukin-10 on early murine B-cell development: stimulation of flt3-ligand plus interleukin-7-dependent generation of CD19(-) ProB cells from uncommitted bone marrow progenitor cells and growth inhibition of CD19(+) ProB cells.

B-cell commitment and early development from multipotent hematopoietic progenitor cells has until recently been considered to be dependent on direct interaction with stromal cells. We recently showed that the flt3 ligand (FL) has a unique ability to interact with interleukin-7 (IL-7) to directly and selectively promote B-cell development from murine bone marrow progenitor cells with a combined myeloid and lymphoid potential. Here we report that whereas IL-10 alone has no ability to stimulate growth of primitive (Lin-Sca-1(+)c-kit+) bone marrow progenitor cells, it potently enhances FL + IL-7-induced proliferation (sevenfold). This enhanced proliferation results from recruitment of progenitors unresponsive to FL + IL-7 alone, as well as from increased growth of individual clones, resulting in a 7,000-fold cellular expansion over 12 days. Single cell cultures and delayed addition studies suggested that the stimulatory effect of IL-10 was directly mediated on the progenitor cells. The cells generated in response to FL + IL-7 + IL-10 appeared to be almost exclusively proB cells, as shown by their expression of B220, CD24, CD43, and lack of expression of c mu, myeloid, erythroid, and T-cell surface antigens. Although IL-10 also enhanced kit ligand (KL) + IL-7-induced proliferation of Lin-Sca-1(+)c-kit+ progenitor cells, the resulting cells were predominantly myeloid progeny. Accordingly, FL + IL-7 + IL-10 was 100-fold more efficient in stimulating production of proB cells than KL + IL-7 + IL-10. In contrast to its ability to stimulate the earliest phase of proB cell formation and proliferation, IL-10 inhibited growth of proB cells generated in response to FL + IL-7. Analysis of CD19 expression on cells generated in FL + IL-7 + IL-10 showed that almost all cells generated under these conditions lacked expression of CD19, in contrast to cells generated in the absence of IL-10, which were predominantly CD19(+). Replating of sorted CD19(+) and CD19(-) proB cells in FL + IL-7 or FL + IL-7 + IL-10 showed that IL-10 efficiently blocked growth of CD19(+), but not CD19(-) cells. Both CD19(-) and CD19(+) cells expressed lambda5 and VpreB , shown to be specific for B-cell progenitors. In addition, sorted CD19(-) cells generated CD19(+) cells in response to FL + IL-7. Thus, IL-10 has a dual regulatory effect on early B-cell development from primitive murine bone marrow progenitor cells in that it enhances FL + IL-7-induced proB-cell formation and growth before acquisition of CD19 expression, whereas growth of CD19(+) proB cells is inhibited.

Animals↗

Transforming growth factor-beta1 abrogates Fas-induced growth suppression and apoptosis of murine bone marrow progenitor cells.

Fas, a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF ) receptor superfamily is a critical downregulator of cellular immune responses. Proinflammatory cytokines like interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and TNF-alpha can induce Fas expression and render hematopoietic progenitor cells susceptible to Fas-induced growth suppression and apoptosis. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1 ) is an essential anti-inflammatory cytokine, thought to play a key role in regulating hematopoiesis. In the present studies we investigated whether TGF-beta1 might regulate growth suppression and apoptosis of murine hematopoietic progenitor cells signaled through Fas. In the presence of TNF, activation of Fas almost completely blocked clonogenic growth of lineage-depleted (Lin-) bone marrow (BM) progenitor cells in response to granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF ), CSF-1, or a combination of multiple cytokines. Whereas TGF-beta1 alone had no effect or stimulated growth in response to these cytokines, it abrogated Fas-induced growth suppression. Single-cell studies and delayed addition of TGF-beta1 showed that the ability of TGF-beta1 to inhibit Fas-induced growth suppression was directly mediated on the progenitor cells and not indirect through potentially contaminating accessory cells. Furthermore, TGF-beta1 blocked Fas-induced apoptosis of Lin- BM cells, but did not affect Fas-induced apoptosis of thymocytes. TGF-beta1 also downregulated the expression of Fas on Lin- BM cells. Thus, TGF-beta1 potently and directly inhibits activation-dependent and Fas-mediated growth suppression and apoptosis of murine BM progenitor cells, an effect that appears to be distinct from its ability to induce progenitor cell-cycle arrest. Consequently, TGF-beta1 might act to protect hematopoietic progenitor cells from enhanced Fas expression and function associated with proinflammatory responses.

Animals↗

Ability of early acting cytokines to directly promote survival and suppress apoptosis of human primitive CD34+CD38- bone marrow cells with multilineage potential at the single-cell level: key role of thrombopoietin.

Purified primitive progenitor/stem cells from bone marrow represent likely target populations for ex vivo expansion of stem cells to be used in high-dose chemotherapy or gene therapy. Whereas such primitive progenitor cells require combined stimulation by multiple cytokines for growth, some cytokines selectively promote viability rather than growth when acting individually. We investigated here for the first time the direct effects of cytokines on survival of primitive CD34+CD38- human bone marrow progenitor cells at the single-cell level. Interleukin-3 (IL-3) and the ligands for c-kit (KL) and flt3 (FL) had direct and selective viability-promoting effects on a small fraction of CD34+CD38- but not CD34+CD38+ progenitor cells. Interestingly, the recently cloned thrombopoietin (Tpo), although stimulating little growth, kept most CD34+CD38- progenitors viable after prolonged culture, maintaining twofold and fourfold more progenitors viable than KL and IL-3, respectively. A high fraction of these progenitors had a combined myeloid and erythroid differentiation potential, as well as capacity for prolonged production of progenitor cells under stroma-independent conditions. In addition, Tpo promoted viability of CD34+CD38- long-term culture-initiating cells, further supporting the idea that Tpo promotes viability of primitive human progenitor cells. Finally, Tpo suppressed apoptosis of CD34+CD38- cells in culture. Thus, the present studies show a novel effect of Tpo, implicating a potential role of this cytokine in maintaining quiescent primitive human progenitor cells viable.

ADP-ribosyl Cyclase↗

Hypermethylated SUPERMAN epigenetic alleles in arabidopsis.

Mutations in the SUPERMAN gene affect flower development in Arabidopsis. Seven heritable but unstable sup epi-alleles (the clark kent alleles) are associated with nearly identical patterns of excess cytosine methylation within the SUP gene and a decreased level of SUP RNA. Revertants of these alleles are largely demethylated at the SUP locus and have restored levels of SUP RNA. A transgenic Arabidopsis line carrying an antisense methyltransferase gene, which shows an overall decrease in genomic cytosine methylation, also contains a hypermethylated sup allele. Thus, disruption of methylation systems may yield more complex outcomes than expected and can result in methylation defects at known genes. The clark kent alleles differ from the antisense line because they do not show a general decrease in genomic methylation.

Alleles↗

Thrombopoietin promotes adhesion of primitive human hemopoietic cells to fibronectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1: role of activation of very late antigen (VLA)-4 and VLA-5.

Thrombopoietin (Tpo), the ligand for c-mpl and a principal regulator of megakaryocytopoiesis and platelet production, has been demonstrated to stimulate the growth and differentiation of megakaryocyte as well as multipotent hemopoietic progenitor cells. In the present study we demonstrate that Tpo can stimulate the adhesion of the Mo7e progenitor cell line to fibronectin (Fn) as well as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 through activation of very late antigen (VLA)-4 and VLA-5, adhesion molecules previously demonstrated to be involved in regulation of steady state hemopoiesis. Tpo-induced adhesion was concentration dependent, reached a maximum following 30 min, and appeared to be dependent on adenylate cyclase, and tyrosine kinase activity. Furthermore, second messenger inhibitors implicated essential and complimentary roles of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase and protein kinase C in mediating Tpo-induced adhesion. The ability of Tpo to promote adhesion to fibronectin was comparable to that of IL-3, but less than that of stem cell factor. Unlike the ability of these cytokines to synergistically enhance growth of Mo7e as well as normal progenitor cells, no synergy was observed with regard to their ability to enhance adhesion. Finally, Tpo stimulated adhesion of primitive (CD34+ CD38-) human bone marrow cells to fibronectin, predominantly through activation of VLA-5, whereas no such effect could be observed on CD34+ CD38+ bone marrow cells. Thus, Tpo might play an important role in early hemopoiesis, at least in part through its ability to promote adhesion through activation of adhesion molecules on hemopoietic progenitor cells.

ADP-ribosyl Cyclase↗

Interleukin-13 in combination with CD40 ligand potently inhibits apoptosis in human B lymphocytes: upregulation of Bcl-xL and Mcl-1.

Interleukin-13 (IL-13) is a novel T-cell-derived cytokine with IL-4-like effects on many cell types. In human B lymphocytes, IL-13 induces activation, stimulates proliferation in combination with anti-IgM or anti-CD40 antibodies, and directs Ig isotype switching towards IgE and IgG4 isotypes. We show here that IL-13 also regulates human B-cell apoptosis. IL-13 reduced spontaneous apoptosis of peripheral blood B cells in vitro, as shown by measurement of DNA fragmentation using the TUNEL and Nicoletti assays. The inhibition of cell death by IL-13 alone was significant but modest, but was potently enhanced in combination with CD40 ligand (CD40L), a survival stimulus for B cells by itself. Interestingly, IL-13 increased the expression of CD40 on peripheral blood B cells, providing a possible mechanism for the observed synergy. IL-13 alone was a less potent inhibitor of apoptosis than IL-4. Moreover, there was no additive effect of combining IL-4 and IL-13 at supraoptimal concentrations, which is consistent with the notion that the IL-4 and IL-13 binding sites share a common signaling subunit. The combination of IL-13 with CD40L augmented the expression of the Bcl-2 homologues Bcl-xL and Mcl-1, suggesting this as a possible intracellular mechanism of induced survival. By contrast, levels of Bcl-2, and two other Bcl-2 family members, Bax and Bak, remained unaltered. Given the importance of the CD40-CD40L interaction in B-cell responses, these results suggest a significant role of IL-13 in the regulation of B-cell apoptosis.

Apoptosis↗

Thrombopoietin directly and potently stimulates multilineage growth and progenitor cell expansion from primitive (CD34+ CD38-) human bone marrow progenitor cells: distinct and key interactions with the ligands for c-kit and flt3, and inhibitory effects of TGF-beta and TNF-alpha.

Thrombopoietin (Tpo) is a primary regulator of megakaryocyte and platelet production. However, studies in c-mpl-deficient mice suggest that Tpo might also play an important role in early hemopoiesis. Here, the direct ability of Tpo to stimulate stroma-independent growth, multilineage differentiation, and progenitor cell expansion from single primitive CD34+ CD38- human bone marrow cells was investigated. Tpo alone stimulated limited clonal growth, but synergized with c-kit ligand (KL), flt3 ligand (FL), or IL-3 to potently enhance clonogenic growth. Whereas KL and FL in combination stimulated the clonal growth of only 3% of CD34+ CD38- cells, 40% of CD34+ CD38- cells were recruited by KL+FL+Tpo, demonstrating that Tpo promotes the growth of a high fraction of CD34+ CD38- progenitor cells. Additional cytokines (IL-3, IL-6, and erythropoietin (Epo)) did not significantly enhance clonal growth above that observed in response to KL+FL+Tpo. In contrast, Tpo enhanced clonogenic growth in response to KL+FL+IL-3+IL-6+Epo by as much as 80%, implicating a key role for this cytokine in early hemopoiesis. Importantly, we also demonstrate that the majority of Tpo-recruited CD34+ CD38- progenitor cells have a multilineage differentiation potential, and that Tpo promotes prolonged expansion of multipotent progenitors. Specifically, whereas progenitor cells were reduced in cultures containing only KL+FL, addition of Tpo resulted in 40-fold expansion of multipotent progenitors following a 14-day incubation. Finally, we identified inhibitors of Tpo-induced progenitor cell growth, in that TGF-beta as well as TNF-alpha almost completely abrogated the growth of CD34+ CD38- progenitor cells in response to Tpo alone as well as KL+FL+Tpo.

Animals↗

Thrombopoietin, but not erythropoietin, directly stimulates multilineage growth of primitive murine bone marrow progenitor cells in synergy with early acting cytokines: distinct interactions with the ligands for c-kit and FLT3.

Thrombopoietin (Tpo), the ligand for c-mpl, has been shown to be the principal regulator of megakaryocytopoiesis and platelet production. The ability of Tpo to potently stimulate the growth of committed megakaryocyte (Mk) progenitor cells has been studied in detail. Murine fetal liver cells, highly enriched in primitive progenitors, have been shown to express c-mpl, but little is known about the ability of Tpo to stimulate the growth and differentiation of primitive multipotent bone marrow (BM) progenitor cells. Here, we show that Tpo alone and in combination with early acting cytokines can stimulate the growth and multilineage differentiation of Lin- Sca-1+ BM progenitor cells. In particular, Tpo potently synergized with the ligands for c-kit (stem cell factor [SCF]) and flt3 (FL) to stimulate an increase in the number and size of clones formed from Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors. When cells were plated at 1 cell per well, the synergistic effect of Tpo was observed both in fetal calf serum-supplemented and serum-depleted medium and was decreased if the addition of Tpo to cultures was delayed for as little as 24 hours, suggesting that Tpo is acting directly on the primitive progenitors. Tpo added to SCF + erythropoietin (Epo)-supplemented methylcellulose cultures potently enhanced the formation of multilineage colonies containing granulocytes, macrophages, erythrocytes, and Mks. SCF potently enhanced Tpo-stimulated production of high-ploidy Mks from Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors, whereas the increased growth response obtained when combining Tpo with FL did not translate into increased Mk production. The ability of Tpo and SCF to synergistically enhance the growth of Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors was predominantly observed in the more primitive rhodamine 123(lo) fraction. Tpo also enhanced growth of Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors when combined with interleukin-3 (IL-3) and IL-11 but not with IL-12, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, or Epo. Epo, which has high homology to Tpo, was unable to stimulate the growth of Lin- Sca-1+ progenitors alone or in combination with SCF or FL, suggesting that c-mpl is expressed on more primitive stages of progenitors than the Epo receptor. Thus, the present studies show the potent ability of Tpo to enhance the growth of primitive multipotent murine BM progenitors in combination with multiple early acting cytokines and documents its unique ability to synergize with SCF to enhance Mk production from such progenitors.

Animals↗

Thrombopoietin, but not erythropoietin promotes viability and inhibits apoptosis of multipotent murine hematopoietic progenitor cells in vitro.

The recently cloned c-mpl ligand, thrombopoietin (Tpo), has been extensively characterized with regard to its ability to stimulate the growth, development, and ploidy of megakaryocyte progenitor cells and platelet production in vitro and in vivo. Primitive hematopoietic progenitors have been shown to express c-mpl, the receptor for Tpo. In the present study, we show that Tpo efficiently promotes the viability of a subpopulation of Lin-Sca-1+ bone marrow progenitor cells. The ability of Tpo to maintain viable Lin-Sca-1+ progenitors was comparable to that of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-1, whereas stem cell factor (SCF) promoted the viability of a higher number of Lin-Sca-1+ progenitor cells when incubated for 40 hours. However, after prolonged (> 40 hours) preincubation, the viability-promoting effect of Tpo was similar to that of SCF. An increased number of progenitors surviving in response to Tpo had megakaryocyte potential (37%), although almost all of the progenitors produced other myeloid cell lineages as well, suggesting that Tpo acts to promote the viability of multipotent progenitors. The ability of Tpo to promote viability of Lin-Sca-1+ progenitor cells was observed when cells were plated at a concentration of 1 cell per well in fetal calf serum-supplemented and serum-depleted medium. Finally, the DNA strand breakage elongation assay showed that Tpo inhibits apoptosis of Lin-Sca-1+ bone marrow cells. Thus, Tpo has a potent ability to promote the viability and suppress apoptosis of primitive multipotent progenitor cells.

Animals↗