International Journal of Cell Cloning, Vol 1, 151-170, Copyright © 1983 by AlphaMed Press
The stimulation of rat bone marrow fibroblast colony formation by 2- mercaptoethanol
SA Bauldry, FD Wilson and GA Ackerman
The definition of the function of bone marrow stromal cells in the
regulation of hematopoiesis has been complicated by the limited growth of
these cells in vitro. We have demonstrated that the addition of 2-
mercaptoethanol to rat bone marrow cultures enhances bone marrow fibroblast
proliferation as evidenced by a 2-fold increase in the total number of
fibroblast colonies and a 5-fold increase in the number of these colonies
which contain more than 80 cells. We also present evidence suggesting that
enhancement of fibroblast growth may not be due to direct action of
2-mercaptoethanol, but may result from the activation of a serum component.
The results from this study should facilitate further research into the
function of bone marrow fibroblasts in the regulation of hematopoietic cell
differentiation.
