International Journal of Cell Cloning, Vol 9, 461-473, Copyright © 1991 by AlphaMed Press
Similarities in long-term cultures of blood and bone marrow from patients with acute myelogenous leukemia
A Janowska-Wieczorek, H Mayani, SY Shen, J Tupas, AR Belch, DW Morrish, GG Miller and AR Turner
Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Dexter-type long-term cultures (LTC) were initiated with peripheral blood
(PB) and/or bone marrow cells from 11 patients with acute myelogenous
leukemia (AML), and 2 with myelodysplastic syndrome in blastic
transformation. Marrow and PB cells from normal subjects served as
controls. Assessment of nucleated cells and clonogenic progenitors in the
adherent and nonadherent fractions of LTC revealed active hemopoiesis for
greater than 5 wks in 4 of 8 cultures of AML blood, and 4 of 7 of AML
marrow. The morphology and kinetics of nucleated cells and progenitors with
putative normal (granulocyte-macrophage colony- forming units or CFU-gm),
and abnormal (blast) phenotype in LTC from AML blood were similar to those
from AML marrow, and adherent cells positive for collagen I and III and
vimentin were found in both types of LTC. Growth of CFU-gm colonies ceased
by wk 5-8 in AML cultures, significantly earlier than in LTC of normal
marrow cells (survival of greater than 10 wks), which may indicate
derivation of the CFU-gm from a transformed clone or deficiency of stromal
function in the leukemic state. In most AML blood and AML marrow LTCs,
growth of abnormal (blast) colonies continued until wk 4-6. This study
demonstrates certain similarities of morphology and function between LTC of
AML blood and AML marrow cells. LTC may provide a useful model for further
analysis of circulating primitive hemopoietic progenitor cells in leukemic
states.
