Continued blood cell formation in spherical bodies in a long-term mouse
spleen culture
Y Matsuya, N Yanai, H Ohtani, H Naganuma and M Obinata
Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai,
Japan.
During the primary culture of spleen fragments of newborn mice, a spherical
body (d = circa 200 to 300 microns) as a three-dimensional cellular
organization was formed. Continued production of blood cells from the
spherical body was observed without changing its size for about 2 months of
culture. Without growth factor, the spherical bodies produced mainly
lymphocytes and macrophages. Addition of interleukin-3 enhanced their
granulocyte formation, and this enhancement was observed even after a
prolonged maintenance without growth factors. The spherical bodies were
composed of a uniform mixture of endothelial cells and fibroblasts within
the body, and cell-cell contacts between lymphocytes and fibroblasts were
notable in the periphery. With prolonged culture, the spherical bodies
showed a definite change in their structure by sorting two cell types and
the blood cell production gradually decreased. These results suggested that
a three-dimensional structure was required for the maintenance, growth, and
differentiation of blood cell progenitors in the long-term spleen culture.
Volume 77,
Issue 6,
pp. 1211-1217,
03/15/1991
Copyright © 1991 by The American Society of Hematology
