Most studies on the physiologic and pathologic mechanisms of erythropoiesis require the culture of erythroid precursors which have the capability to produce hemoglobin and other important membrane or enzyme proteins. We described here a liquid
culture
technique of proliferating and differentiating erythroid precursors using a small amount of peripheral blood.
After the first week of liquid suspension culture, erythropoietin addition in the culture medium made stem cells in peripheral blood (maybe BFU-e, CFU-e) proliferate and differentiate into erythroid precursor cells. Proliferation of erythroid
precursors could be noticed grossly be red color of the pellet when spun down because of the hemoglobin produced. Benzidine stain study gave more precise information of the population of hemoglobin-producing erythroid precursors in the culture
system.
Rubriblasts appeared as early as 5 days after addition of erythropoietin followed by the appearances of prorubricytes and metarubricytes subsequently. The stages of erythroid differentiation were fairly well synchronized and cells of similar
stages
were
aggregated into rough colonies.
Taken together, the two-step liquid culture system using a small amount of peripheral blood has more adventages in the points of convenience, yield, purity and easy manipulation, and is much closer to in vivo state blood cells than semisolid or
other
culture methods. This liquid culture system might provide an valuable experimental fool for a variery of studies on the process of erythropoiesis, especially studies about the effects of chemical agents on globin chain synthesis and the effects
of
growth factors including interleukins on erythroid maturation.
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