1. Kinetic evidence of the regeneration of multilineage hematopoiesis from primitive cells in normal human bone marrow transplanted into immunodeficient mice
J D Cashman, T Lapidot, J C Wang, M Doedens, L D Shultz, P Lansdorp, J E Dick, C J Eaves Blood. 1997 Jun 15;89(12):4307-16.
Based on initial observations of human CD34+ Thy-1+ cells and long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-IC) in the bone marrow of some sublethally irradiated severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice transplanted intravenously with normal human marrow cells, and the subsequent finding that the NOD/LtSz-scid/scid (NOD/SCID) mouse supports higher levels of human cell engraftment, we undertook a series of time course experiments to examine posttransplant changes in the number, tissue distribution, cycling activity, and in vivo differentiation pattern of various human hematopoietic progenitor cell populations in this latter mouse model. These studies showed typical rapid posttransplant recovery curves for human CD34- CD19+ (B-lineage) cells, CD34+ granulopoietic, erythroid, and multilineage colony-forming cells (CFC), LTC-IC, and CD34+ Thy-1+ cells from a small initial population representing <0.1% of the original transplant. The most primitive human cell populations reached maximum values at 5 weeks posttransplant, after which they declined. More mature cell types peaked after another 5 weeks and then declined. A 2-week course of thrice weekly injections of human Steel factor, interleukin (IL)-3, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and erythropoietin (administered just before the mice were killed for analysis) did not alter the pace of regeneration of either primitive or mature human hematopoietic cells, or their predominantly granulopoietic and B-lymphoid pattern of differentiation, although a significant enhancing effect on the level of human cell engraftment sustained after 3 months was noted. Cycling studies showed the human CFC present at 4 to 5 weeks posttransplant to be rapidly proliferating even in mice not given human growth factors. However, by 10 weeks and thereafter, only quiescent human CFC were detected; interestingly, even in mice that were given the 2-week course of growth factor injections. These studies indicate the use of this model for future analysis of the properties and in vivo regulation of primitive human hematopoietic cells that possess in vivo repopulating ability.
2. Enrichment of human hematopoietic stem cell activity in the CD34+Thy-1+Lin- subpopulation from mobilized peripheral blood
L Murray, B Chen, A Galy, S Chen, R Tushinski, N Uchida, R Negrin, G Tricot, S Jagannath, D Vesole Blood. 1995 Jan 15;85(2):368-78.
The number of CD34+ cells in the peripheral blood of cancer patients is known to be increased following the administration of high dose chemotherapy and hematopoietic growth factors. These so-called peripheral blood stem cell grafts are now frequently used for autologous transplantation of patients with malignancies. In this report, we address the question of whether true long-term repopulating pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells (PHSC) are mobilized into peripheral blood following chemotherapy plus granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilization. We have examined the presence of stem cells in mobilized peripheral blood (MPB) by using an antibody to the human Thy-1 molecule to stain the CD34+Lineage- (Lin-) population. The kinetics of mobilization of CD34+Thy-1+ Lin- cells into peripheral blood were studied, and the percentage of cells with this phenotype was found to vary widely depending on the day of leukapheresis. A CD34+Thy-1+Lin- cell population, potentially containing PHSCs, was isolated by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) and analyzed for activity. The multilineage differentiative capacity of this candidate stem cell-containing population in MPB was determined using an in vitro long-term culture system, in which cobblestone area formation was used as a means of detecting PHSCs. We also measured repopulating capacity by using two in vivo models in which severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)-hu mice were implanted with human fetal bone or thymus grafts. Using these assays, we show that the highest frequency of cobblestone area-forming cells (CAFC) after 7 weeks of culture was observed in a subpopulation of CD34+Lin- cells, which expressed low levels of Thy-1. This cell population was capable of producing both B and myeloid cells, and maintaining CD34+Lin- cells in these long term cultures. Moreover, the CD34+Thy-1+Lin- cell subset possessed a higher ability to engraft and to demonstrate multilineage differentiative potential at 8 weeks in the SCID-hu bone assay. However, in the SCID-hu thymus model, both Thy-1+ and Thy-1- subpopulations were capable of donor T-cell engraftment at 6 weeks, suggesting the presence of cells capable of initiating T lymphopoiesis in both populations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
3. Fibroblasts retrovirally transfected with the human IL-3 gene initiate and sustain multilineage human hematopoiesis in SCID mice: comparison of CD34-enriched vs CD34-enriched and in vitro expanded grafts
S R Goan, K Schwarz, S von Harsdorf, C von Schilling, I Fichtner, I Junghahn, U Just, F Herrmann Bone Marrow Transplant. 1996 Sep;18(3):513-9.
Peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) obtained from cytapheresis products (CPs) of tumor patients undergoing mobilizing chemotherapy for PBPC support and dose-intensified anticancer chemotherapy initiate multilineage human hematopoiesis after intraperitoneal (i.p.) transplantation into young severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. The engraftment process was significantly accelerated by subcutaneous cotransplants of a rat fibroblast cell line stably transfected with a retroviral vector carrying the human interleukin-3 (hIL-3) gene and producing sustained in vivo levels of circulating human IL-3 over a prolonged period of time. These cotransplants were found to provide a suitable microenvironment for i.p. transplanted CD34-positive cells separated from PBPC preparations using immunomagnetic beads. Flow cytometry analysis and immunocytology revealed that selected PB CD34- cells, more than 90% pure, were capable of initiating and sustaining a productive multilineage hematopoiesis preferentially within the hIL-3-secreting cotransplants followed by release of mature human cells into the circulation, spleen and thymus. The percentages of human cells found in hIL-3 cotransplants 8 weeks post-transplantation (p.t.) were generally higher than those measured after transplantation of complete CP mononuclear cells containing comparable doses of CD34-positive cells. When selected PB CD34+ cells that were expanded ex vivo with combinations of human hematopoietic growth factors including the c-kit ligand (KL), interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-3, IL-6, erythropoietin (EPO) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for 14 days were grafted to cotransplant-carrying SCID mice, a considerable loss of their proliferative potential was observed regardless of the HGF combination used. When experiments with grafts of selected PBPC were compared to those performed with selected/expanded PBPC on a per CD34+ cell basis the results revealed that over a dose range of 0.3 to 1.0 x 10(6) cells/graft the in vivo proliferative capacity of expanded cells was reduced by a factor of 2 to 3.