title: Interleukin-6 supports human megakaryocytic proliferation and differentiation in vitro.
abstract: The effect of interleukin-6 (IL-6) on cells of human megakaryocyte (MK) lineage from cord blood was explored. In semisolid colony assays containing human plasma, a greater number of both MK colonies and cells per colony was seen in the presence of IL-6 and IL-3 than in the presence of IL-3 alone. This stimulatory effect of IL-6, observed on both small and large MK colonies, was completely eliminated by the addition of anti-IL-6 antibody to the culture. IL-6 alone had no effect on MK colony formation. In the primary culture, MKs showed larger cell size and DNA content in the presence of both IL-3 and IL-6 than IL-3 alone. The replating experiments using immature MKs grown in the presence of IL-3 showed that IL-6 significantly augmented both cell size and DNA content. This effect was also neutralized by an anti-IL-6 antibody. IL-3 had no tangible effect on MK differentiation. Synergism between IL-6 and IL-3 on MK differentiation was not confirmed. These results suggest that IL-6 is a synergistic factor in the proliferation of MK progenitors and a direct effector of differentiation of immature MKs on in vitro human megakaryocytopoiesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Okumura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakahata
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008533:Megakaryocytes / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6