Fetal Hemopoietic Tissue Differentiation and Response to Erythropoietin Stimulation in an in Vivo Culture System 1

Summary

Murine fetal liver was cultured in diffusion chambers (DC) either as the whole organ or as a cell suspension of equivalent concentration. Only the cultured organ was able to maintain erythroid differentiation during the 10-day culture period, suggesting the influence of maintaining an environment favorable to erythropoiesis. When diffusion chambers were implanted in bled host mice, erythropoiesis was enhanced in the cultured whole organ, but not in the cultured cell suspension, suggesting a cooperative action of erythropoietin and the microenvironment in inducing erythroid differentiation.