Characterization of an erythroid precursor cell of high proliferative capacity in normal human peripheral blood.

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Abstract
These erythroid stem cells closely resemble the murine erythroid burst-forming unit (BFU-E) with respect to proliferative capacity, colony morphology and erythropoietin requirement. BFU-E were isolated from the peripheral blood of normal individuals by Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient centrifugation and cultured in vitro using the plasma culture technique. Macroscopic erythroid colonies of 100-1000 cells were observed after 10-14 days of culture in the presence of either sheep or human erythropoietin at 0.5-4 units/ml. Individual colonies contained 3-20 subcolonies and reached a maximum mean size of approximately 500 cells. Colony number was linearly related to the cell input, suggesting that a single cellular entity was precursor to each colony. The frequency of cells capable of giving rise to an erythroid colony was at least 100/ml of blood in a number of individuals tested. The ability to assay significant numbers of erythroid precursor cells of high proliferative capacity from normal peripheral blood should facilitate the study of both normal erythropoiesis and of disease states affecting erythropoiesis in which marrow samples are not available on a routine basis.