Stimulation of rabbit erythroblast multiplication and maturation in vitro by blood leukocytes: Cytological observations. III. Studies on erythropoiesis

✍ Scribed by Henry Borsook; Susan Jiggins; Rosina T. Wilson

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1972
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 749 KB
• Volume: 79
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9541
• DOI: 10.1002/jcp.1040790211

✦ Synopsis

Blood leukocytes incubated in vitro with rabbit-marrow cells induced a several-fold increase in basophilic erythroblasts and smaller increases in acidophils and reticulocytes. The main effect was nearly complete in one hour at 37". Erythropoietin augmented the leukocyte effect; anti-erythropoietin inhibited i t with or without erythropoietin. The erythroblast increase came entirely from the marrow cells; the precursor cell class has not been identified, except that division of pre-existing basophils appears to be excluded. Autologous and homologous leukocytes were about equally effective.

A method is described of measuring on stained smears changes in relative concentrations of different classes of cells induced experimentally. A method of preparing highly concentrated peripheral blood leukocytes is described.

The studies described here originated from discussions with Dr. Donald C. Van Dyke of his view that erythropoietic marrow requires for its maintenance and restoration, inter aka, functional bone cells and adequate circulation through the bone (Van Dyke and Harris, '69; Van Dyke, personal communication). An in vitro method, it was felt, would be a n advantage in the study of this, as well as of other aspects of erythropoiesis. Most of the requirements appeared to be available. We had found in vitro conditions in which rabbit erythroblasts develop to a measurable extent (Borsook, Ratner, Tattrie, Teigler and Lajtha, '68), and had devised a procedure for fractionating a marrow cell suspension so that the erythroblasts were segregated according to their degree of maturity (Borsook, Ratner and Tattrie, '69). Blood buffy coat cells (hereafter called leukocytes) contain erythropoietic stem cells (