In vitro maintenance of bone marrow-resident T cell precursors in cultures supplemented with exogenous IL-3.
T cell precursors (pre-T cells) from adult murine bone marrow were propagated in vitro using a newly developed cell culture system. This system differs from "classical" bone marrow culture techniques in that it does not require the establishment of a monolayer of bone marrow stromal cells nor the presence of an irradiated feeder layer for the maintenance of the pre-T cell compartment, but rather depends on the continuous presence of exogenous interleukin-3 (IL-3) in the culture. Cells harvested from these cultures retain the capacity to repopulate the thymuses of sublethally irradiated recipient mice, following intrathymic transfer, for at least 2 weeks after the initiation of the cultures. Interestingly, pre-T cells maintained under these culture conditions rapidly lose their capacity for thymic repopulation following intravenous transfer, suggesting a potential defect in recirculation and/or homing properties. This culture system should prove useful in the investigation of bone marrow-resident pre-T cells.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport 71130.
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Chervenak
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JD
Altazan
D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002455:Cell Division; D002465:Cell Movement; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007377:Interleukin-3 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008806:Mice, Inbred AKR; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology
D007377:Interleukin-3