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Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) can now be considered a therapeutic hematopoietic growth factor since its use is becoming more and more widespread in various hematological malignancies [1–3]. However, the role of this molecule in regulating normal hematopoiesis in vivo within the marrow microenvironment and its target cells is still not very well known. An attempt to understand this better can be made with long-term bone marrow cultures [4, 5], which are the best model to recreate the marrow microenvironment and the cellular interactions necessary for a sustained hematopoiesis. In this system, bone marrow cells are divided into two distinct fractions, one represented by the non-adherent hematopoietic cells which are intimately associated with the second fraction represented by the adherent cells — macrophages, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, adipocytes, and hematopoietic cells — and by the extracellular matrix constituting the microenvironment in vitro [6]. An active hematopoiesis can be obtained for several weeks in these cultures without adding exogenous hematopoietic growth factors. |
