Open Access

ARTICLE

Interleukin-3 and ex vivo maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells: facts and controversies

Zoran Ivanovic^{1, 2}

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

* Corresponding Author: Zoran Ivanovic,

European Cytokine Network 2004, 15(1), 6-13.

Abstract

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”.

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Keywords

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