Effects of environmental temperature on haemopoietic stem cells in the tails of mice.
Using the endogenous spleen colony assay method of Till & McCulloch (1963), the numbers of haemopoietic stem cells present in the bone marrow in the tails of mice were estimated under different environmental temperatures. Compared to animals kept at 22--26 degrees C, mice transferred to an kept at 36.5 degrees C showed a doubling of colony-forming units in the tail in 1--4 weeks. Exposing them to 8 degrees C caused a significant depopulation to approximately one-third in 3--4 weeks. By transferring the mice from one temperature extreme to another these changes could be reversed. Tail marrow depleted of viable stem cells by X-irradiation was repopulated within approximately 3 weeks in animals kept at room temperature or above but this process was inhibited in the cold.
D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000528:radiation effects; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D005260:Female; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D013623:Tail; D013696:Temperature