Effect of stem cell factor on myelopoiesis potential in human Dexter-type culture systems

Abstract

Hematopoiesis is influenced by the presence of the hematopoietic microenvironment, and Dexter-type liquid culture systems represent an in vitro representation of some aspects of the microenvironment that are optimal for the propagation of myeloid progenitors. Marrow stromal layers, which constitute part of these culture systems, produce growth factors, including stem cell factor (SCF), a ligand for the c-kit proto-oncogene that has been found to increase detection of myeloid, erythroid, and megakaryocytic progenitors in short-term marrow colony assays. In this work, the role of SCF in Dexter-type culture systems was examined to better define its contribution to steady-state myelopoiesis. When cultured in the continued presence of 100 ng/mL SCF, both primary and recharged cultures demonstrated significantly greater CFU-GM output, with quantitative differences noted throughout culture duration (up to 6 weeks). This increase in CFU-GM could be inhibited specifically with the addition of 1:1500 SR-1, a neutralizing anti-c-kit monoclonal antibody (MAb) that neutralizes the biological effects of SCF, and the increase was noted both with recharged light-density marrow cells and purified CD34+ progenitor cells. On the other hand, when primary or recharged marrow cultures were established in the absence of exogenous SCF, but in the continuous presence of SR-1, no inhibition of CFU-GM output was observed. When light-density marrow cells were purged of pre-existing CFU-GM by 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (4-HC) and were seeded over irradiated stromal layers, exogenous SCF resulted in detection of CFU-GM from 4-HC-treated cells as early as 1 week of culture, as compared to the lack of significant emergence of CFU-GMs at 4 weeks in the control cultures. This SCF effect was also inhibited by SR-1. Purified CD34+ progenitor cells did not adhere to SCF immobilized to tissue culture plates, and the adhesion of such progenitors to murine Steel lines transfected with membrane-bound SCF was not greater than to the parent nontransfected Steel line, suggesting that the effect of SCF was not on CD34+ cell adhesion. These studies confirm the action of SCF at a pre-CFU level, and they demonstrate the ability of SCF to stimulate increased production of myeloid progenitors in long-term liquid culture systems.