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Loss of CD38 antigen on CD34+CD38+ cells during short-term culture

Leukemia volume 14, pages 947–948 (2000)Cite this article

The earliest progenitor in the hierarchy of hematolymphopoietic cells, the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC), can repopulate the bone marrow after transplantation and sustain hematopoiesis, generating all known mature blood cells. Assay systems to measure repopulating capacity of HSCs in humans are not available. However, early progenitors can be detected by their ability to produce cobble stone areas (CAFC), and colony-forming cells (CFC) for at least 5 weeks on stroma (LTC-IC). In addition, the repopulating capacity of human HSCs can be measured in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency (SRC). Several surface antigens such as CD34, CD38, and HLA DR have been used as markers to enrich HSC from different sources.1 However, even the most highly enriched populations still remain heterogeneous. A more than 1000-fold enrichment of SRC and LTC-IC was found in CD34+CD38− cells compared with unseparated mononuclear cells from cord blood or bone marrow.23 Here, we studied whether after ex vivo culture CD38 still remains a marker for more differentiated progenitor cells.

The day 4 CD34+CD38− cells could have arisen by massive expansion of CD34+CD38− cells during culture or by loss of the CD38 marker on cells that were initially CD38+ (Figure 1a). Therefore, CD34+CD38+ cells were purified by MACS and subsequent cell sorting (MoFlo sorter; Cytomation, Fort Collins, CO, USA; Figure 1d) and then cultured for 4 days in BIT with FL, IL-3 and SCF. On day 4, cell numbers had increased by three-fold with a viability of over 80% and 32% of the cells were CD34+CD38− (Figure 1e). We therefore concluded that CD34+CD38+ cells lost the CD38 antigen during culture while remaining CD34+.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung grant 01KV9811.4

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heinrich-Pette-Institut für Experimentelle Virologie und Immunologie an der Universität Hamburg, Germany

    D von Laer, A Corovic, B Vogt, S Roscher, C Baum & W Ostertag

  2. Zentrum für Knochenmarktransplantation, Universitätskrankenhaus Eppendorf, Germany

    B Fehse

  3. CELL TEC GmbH, Hamburg, Germany

    A Rimek

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  1. D von Laer
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  2. A Corovic
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  8. W Ostertag
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von Laer, D., Corovic, A., Vogt, B. et al. Loss of CD38 antigen on CD34+CD38+ cells during short-term culture. Leukemia 14, 947–948 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2401740

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