TY  - EJOU
AU  - Ivanovic, Zoran 

TI  - Interleukin-3 and <i>ex vivo</i> maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells: facts and controversies
T2  - European Cytokine Network

PY  - 2004
VL  - 15
IS  - 1
SN  - 1952-4005

AB  - Although the utilization of IL-3 in the <i>ex vivo</i> 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”.
KW  - IL-3
KW  -  <i>ex vivo</i> expansion
KW  -  stem cells
KW  -  progenitors
KW  -  self-renewal
KW  -  differentiation

DO  -