Ultimate erythropoietic repopulating abilities of fetal, young adult, and old adult cells compared using repeated irradiation

Journal Article · Sat Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984 · J. Exp. Med.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.160.3.759· OSTI ID:6051291

Harrison, D E; Astle, C M; Lerner, C

Erythropoietic repopulating abilities of fetal liver cells and young and old adult marrow cells were compared as follows: Equal numbers of cells from a donor of each age were mixed with a constant portion of cells pooled from genetically distinguishable competitors. These mixtures were transplanted into stem cell-depleted recipients, and the proportions of recipient hemoglobin that were donor type measured the relative effectiveness of early erythropoietic precursor cells from the various donors. At intervals of 3-6 mo, recipients were sublethally irradiated, requiring a new round of competitive repopulation. When B6 mice were used as donors, with WBB6F1 competitors and recipients, the highest levels of stem cell activity were found using old donors. This was true even with unirradiated, immune-competent W/Wv recipients. When donors and recipients were WBB6F1 hybrids, with B6 competitors, fetal cells initially gave higher levels of repopulating ability, and they were similar to the adult and old marrow cells after 400 d and after recovery from two sublethal irradiations. These effects were mostly insignificant and probably reflect small differences in initial stem cell concentrations that are brought out by the sensitivity of the competitive repopulation assay. Repopulating abilities of 12-d fetal liver cells were not detectable. We also showed that the proportions of newly synthesized hemoglobins made by the two types of stem cells in tetraparental mice remained nearly constant when tested at 3-d intervals over 30 d. Minimum numbers of stem cells producing erythrocytes over a single 3-d period were calculated as 62 and 128, but these are too low, since variances were similar in the tetraparental mice and in the F1 hybrid control. We suggest that erythropoietic stem cells have essentially unlimited proliferative capacities and are found in approximately equal concentrations in the primary erythropoietic organs after 15 or 16 d of fetal life.

• Research Organization: Jackson Lab., Bar Harbor, ME
• OSTI ID: 6051291
• Journal Information: J. Exp. Med.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Exp. Med.; (United States) Vol. 160:3; ISSN JEMEA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560152* -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Animals
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AGE DEPENDENCE
ANIMAL CELLS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
BLOOD FORMATION
BODY
BONE MARROW CELLS
CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
ERYTHROPOIESIS
GLANDS
IRRADIATION
LIVER
ORGANS
RADIATION EFFECTS
SOMATIC CELLS
STEM CELLS
SUBLETHAL IRRADIATION
TRANSPLANTS