title: Continued blood cell formation in spherical bodies in a long-term mouse spleen culture.
abstract: During the primary culture of spleen fragments of newborn mice, a spherical body (d = circa 200 to 300 microns) as a three-dimensional cellular organization was formed. Continued production of blood cells from the spherical body was observed without changing its size for about 2 months of culture. Without growth factor, the spherical bodies produced mainly lymphocytes and macrophages. Addition of interleukin-3 enhanced their granulocyte formation, and this enhancement was observed even after a prolonged maintenance without growth factors. The spherical bodies were composed of a uniform mixture of endothelial cells and fibroblasts within the body, and cell-cell contacts between lymphocytes and fibroblasts were notable in the periphery. With prolonged culture, the spherical bodies showed a definite change in their structure by sorting two cell types and the blood cell production gradually decreased. These results suggested that a three-dimensional structure was required for the maintenance, growth, and differentiation of blood cell progenitors in the long-term spleen culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuya
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yanai
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohtani
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Naganuma
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Obinata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004727:Endothelium / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000502:physiology*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007377:Interleukin-3 / Q000494:pharmacology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008264:Macrophages / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007377:Interleukin-3