Stromal expression of Jagged 1 promotes colony formation by fetal hematopoietic progenitor cells.

The Notch signaling system regulates proliferation and differentiation in many tissues. Notch is a transmembrane receptor activated by ligands expressed on adjacent cells. Hematopoietic stem cells and early progenitors express Notch, making the stromal cells which form cell-cell contacts with progenitor cells candidate ligand-presenting cells in the hematopoietic microenvironment. Therefore, we examined primary stromal cell cultures for expression of Notch ligands. Using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting, we demonstrate expression of Jagged 1 in primary stromal cultures. To investigate if the stromal expression of Jagged 1 has functional effects on hematopoietic progenitors, we cultured CD34(+), c-kit+ hematopoietic progenitor cells derived from the aorto gonadal mesonephros region of day 11 mouse embryos on the Jagged 1(-) stromal cell line S17 and on S17 cells engineered to express Jagged 1. The presence of Jagged 1 increased the number of colonies formed in subsequent methylcellulose culture fourfold. Larger increases in colony numbers were observed under the same culture conditions with CD34(+), c-kit+ hematopoietic progenitor cells derived from d11 fetal liver. These results obtained in vitro table Jagged 1 as a candidate regulator of stem cell fate in the context of stromal microenvironments in vivo.