Diamond-blackfan anemia: in vitro response of erythroid progenitors to the ligand for c-kit.
To provide insights into the pathogenesis of Diamond-Blackfan anemia, we examined the in vitro response of erythroid progenitors to the recently isolated ligand for c-kit (stem cell factor, SCF). For these studies, marrow or blood mononuclear cells from 10 Diamond-Blackfan patients were cultured with erythropoietin (Ep), Ep and interleukin-3, Ep and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, or Ep and lymphocyte conditioned media (LCM). These combinations were tested in the presence or absence of SCF. The mean number of cells per erythroid burst increased 5 to 50-fold in cultures containing SCF. Furthermore, many additional erythroid bursts were seen (mean increment 3.2 x baseline values). Although burst-forming unit-erythroid (BFU-E) from all patients responded, there were differences among individuals in the sensitivity of their BFU-E to SCF. In six patients and all control studies, plateau frequencies of erythroid bursts were achieved with less than or equal to 10 ng/mL SCF, whereas in studies from the other four patients, over 50 ng/mL SCF was required. These data invite speculation that the c-kit receptor/ligand axis is involved in the pathogenesis of Diamond-Blackfan anemia. More importantly and regardless of whether the observed patterns of response reflect the primary defect or an epiphenomenon, our data strongly support a therapeutic trial of SCF in patients with Diamond-Blackfan anemia.[1]References
- Diamond-blackfan anemia: in vitro response of erythroid progenitors to the ligand for c-kit. Abkowitz, J.L., Sabo, K.M., Nakamoto, B., Blau, C.A., Martin, F.H., Zsebo, K.M., Papayannopoulou, T. Blood (1991) [Pubmed]
Annotations and hyperlinks in this abstract are from individual authors of WikiGenes or automatically generated by the WikiGenes Data Mining Engine. The abstract is from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.About WikiGenesOpen Access LicencePrivacy PolicyTerms of Useapsburg