In this thesis a number of experiments is described which give evidence for the notion of a distinct nature of CFU-S and cells with LTRA in the mouse. The distinct nature is illustrated by the difference in growth characteristics of CFU-S and LTRA cells on preestablished bone marrow-derived stromal cell layers. We have exploited the culture of stem cells on stromal layers for the development of an in vitro assay for the quantification of long-term repopulating stem cells, marrow repopulating stem cells, and spleen colony forming stem cells. The basic principle for this assay is the presence of a functional hematopoietic micro-environment in vitro, formed by the marrow-derived stromal layer. Stromal layers of long-term bone marrow cultures were studied on their ability to maintain stem cells with L TRA. For the measurement of L TRA we adapted a syngeneic sex-mismatched bone marrow transplantation model. In addition, the interaction of hematopoietic stem cells with fibronectin, a constituent of the hematopoietic rnicro~environment, was studied. The thesis starts with a description of the current definitions of hematopoietic stem cells (Chapter 2). This is followed by an outline of the in vivo and in vitro hematopoietic micro-environment of the bone marrow (Chapter 3). These two chapters precede the experimental work, which is described and discussed throughout the Chapters 4-8. An overview of the present state of research on the cell adhesion properties of fibronectin, focused on the hematopoietic cells, is part of Chapter 8. Finally, the most important results are discussed in Chapter 9.

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O. Vos
Erasmus University Rotterdam
hdl.handle.net/1765/39424
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

van der Sluijs, J. P. (1993, June 10). The distinct nature of hematopoietic stem cell subpopulations studied in long-term stroma-associated culture in the mouse. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/39424