Modulation of hemopoiesis by novel stromal cell factors.

The microenvironment of the bone marrow in mammals is a crucial site for the maintenance of a pluripotent hemopoietic stem cell pool. Our previous studies and present findings support the notion that both this function and the fine architecture of hemopoietic organs, i.e., the spatial arrangement of blood cells within the tissue, may be directed by stromal cells. Despite the ability of cloned stromal cells to support prolonged hempoiesis and maintenance in vitro of stem cells with high radioprotective ability, they are a poor source of colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) and do not secrete the other species of CSF. Furthermore, cultured stromal cells antagonize the activity of CSF. It is proposed that stromal cell factors distinct from known CSFs, regulate stem cell renewal. An additional phenomenon that is mediated by stromal cells and can not be attributed to CSF, is their ability to specifically inhibit the accumulation of cells of particular lineage and stage of differentiation. A glycoprotein that inhibits the growth of plasmacytomas but not a variety of other cell types was isolated from one type of cloned stromal cells. Such specific inhibitors may account for the control of cell localization in the hemopoietic system.