International Journal of Cell Cloning, Vol 7, 39-49, Copyright © 1989 by AlphaMed Press
Effect of recombinant human interleukin 3, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor on human BFU-e in serum-free cultures
M Misago, S Chiba, M Kikuchi, J Tsukada, T Sato, S Oda and S Eto
First Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
The effects of recombinant human hemopoietic growth factors on early and
late human erythroid progenitors (BFU-e and CFU-e) were investigated in
serum-free cultures. Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo) induced the
formation of not only human CFU-e-derived colonies but also human
BFU-e-derived bursts. Recombinant human interleukin 3 (rhIL-3) alone did
not induce the formation of human BFU-e-derived bursts and human
CFU-e-derived colonies. In the presence of rhEpo, rhIL- 3 dose dependently
increased the number of bursts stimulated by rhEpo, although rhIL-3 did not
have the augmentative effect on human CFU-e growth. On the other hand,
rhIL-3 did not stimulate the formation of murine BFU-e-derived bursts, and
murine IL-3 did not stimulate the formation of human BFU-e-derived bursts.
The results indicated that the burst-promoting activity of IL-3 was
species-specific between human and murine cells. Recombinant human GM-CSF
(rhGM-CSF) or recombinant human G-CSF (rhG-CSF) failed to induce human
burst formation and did not augment the effect of rhEpo on human burst
formation. The results of the present study suggest that in vitro, IL-3 can
stimulate BFU-e in collaboration with Epo, but GM-CSF and G-CSF do not
stimulate BFU-e growth in the presence or absence of Epo.
