International Journal of Cell Cloning, Vol 5, 401-411, Copyright © 1987 by AlphaMed Press
The effect of recombinant erythropoietin on murine megakaryocyte colony formation
J Tsukada, M Misago, T Sato, M Kikuchi, S Oda, S Chiba and S Eto
We investigated the effect of a recombinant human erythropoietin
preparation (recombinant Epo) on murine megakaryocyte (MK) colony formation
in serum-free and serum-containing culture systems, in order to study the
relationship between Epo and megakaryopoiesis. Pokeweed mitogen
spleen-conditioned medium (PWM-SCM), a standard source of MK colony
stimulator, dose-dependently stimulated MK colony formation in the two
culture systems. The plating efficiency of serum-free cultures was almost
equal to that of cultures containing serum. Recombinant Epo also dose
dependently stimulated MK colony formation in serum- containing cultures.
However, in serum-free cultures recombinant Epo alone did not stimulate the
growth of MK colonies; with the addition of fetal calf serum (FCS) to the
serum-free cultures, recombinant Epo induced the growth of MK colonies.
Furthermore, recombinant Epo enhanced MK colony formation through the
stimulation of PWM-SCM or murine interleukin 3 (IL-3) in serum-free
cultures. Our data show that Epo can act as a stimulator of
megakaryopoiesis in collaboration with a factor in serum, or with an MK
colony stimulator such as IL-3.
