Erythropoietic colonies in a serum-free system: results in primary proliferative polycythaemia and thrombocythaemia

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Abstract
Summary. The formation of erythropoietic colonies from the peripheral blood of normal subjects, patients with primary proliferative polycythaemia (PPP) and primary thrombocythaemia (PT) was studied, using a chemically defined serum-free (S -) medium. Colony formation was markedly more prominent in the presence of burst-promoting activity (BPA) and erythropoietin (Ep) than with medium alone (PPP<0.05). In a separate series of experiments, parallel cultures in serum-containing (S +) and serum-free (S -) systems, in the presence of BPA and Ep did not show any significant difference in colony yield. The growth of‘endogenous’colonies in cultures with serum-free medium alone could be due to a peculiar sensitivity of erythropoietic progenitors to growth factors other than Ep.