Human erythropoietin stimulates murine megakaryopoiesis in serum-free culture.
Recombinant erythropoietin (Epo) was capable of stimulating murine megakaryopoiesis both in serum-containing and serum-free cultures, although a relatively high amount of Epo was necessary to provide sufficient stimulus for colony growth. This observation was further confirmed by experiments using nonadherent, nonphagocytic, and T-cell-depleted marrow cells in which Epo stimulated the growth of single megakaryocytes, as well as clusters or colonies. Total plate analysis revealed that twice as many single megakaryocytes and two-cell aggregates were generated by Epo than generated by pokeweed mitogen-stimulated spleen cell-conditioned medium (PWM-SCM). The number of colonies with four or more cells formed by PWM-SCM, however, was significantly higher than that generated by Epo. These results suggest that in comparison to the factor(s) in PWM-SCM, Epo stimulates the growth of more mature progenitors.
D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D008533:Megakaryocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010587:Phagocytosis; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology
D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors; D004921:Erythropoietin