International Journal of Cell Cloning, Vol 7, 303-313, Copyright © 1989 by AlphaMed Press
Microcapillary clonogenic assays for human marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells [published erratum appears in Int J Cell Cloning 1989 Nov;7(6):395]
DL Du, DA Volpe and MJ Murphy Jr
Hipple Cancer Research Center, Dayton, Ohio 45439-2092.
The capillary clonogenic cell assay was developed and adapted to culture
myeloid and erythroid colonies from human bone marrow cells. The plating
efficiencies for femoral bone marrow granulocyte-macrophage progenitors
(CFU-gm), erythroid colony-forming units (CFU-e) and erythroid
burst-forming units (BFU-e) were 0.143%, 0.229% and 0.141%, respectively.
Standard bone marrow progenitor Petri dish assays require a total culture
volume of 1 ml per dish, and as such are not suitable for the small numbers
of cells often obtained from human bone marrow samples. The microcapillary
assay as developed and standardized in our laboratory has the unique
advantage of being able to utilize small numbers of cells. This technique
is suitable for evaluating the myelotoxicity of investigational new
anti-cancer and anti-HIV agents and for further investigation of the
mechanisms underlying chemotherapy- induced bone marrow toxicity.
