JLE

European Cytokine Network

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Interleukin‐3 and ex vivo maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells: facts and controversies Volume 15, numéro 1, March 2004

Auteur
Etablissement Français du Sang Aquitaine‐Limousin, Bordeaux FRE CNRS 2617 « Hématopoïèse normale et pathologique », Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux

Although the utilization of IL‐3 in the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells has been considered as an attractive possibility, its mode of action remains unclear and controversial. Some reports show that IL‐3 maintains or even enhances primitive stem cell activity, whereas others show the opposite. The presence of serum in culture media enhances the pro‐differentiating effect of IL‐3 on stem cells. Conversely, addition of IL‐3 to serum‐free cultures improves the capacity of TPO, SCF and Flt3‐ligand to promote the self‐renewal of primitive stem cells. The presence or absence of serum or of some serum substitutes (in serum‐free cultures), as well as other culture parameters are probably responsible for these contrasting effects of IL‐3 on stem cells. However, none of the data presently evaluated bring a clear, definitive explanation to this apparent paradox. Those data that appear to be the most informative are presented and discussed in this "technical review".