Human hematopoietic progenitor cells in long-term cultures express HLA-DR antigens and lack HLA-DQ antigens.

Abstract

The expression of HLA-DR antigenic determinants on human hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) capable of differentiating into mature blood cells, as determined in semisolid cultures, has been demonstrated previously. Here, we investigated the expression of class II determinants on HPC responsible for the sustained proliferation of colony-forming units of granulocyte/macrophage (CFU-GM), of multilineage HPC (CFU-GEMM, granulocyte/erythrocyte/macrophage/megakaryocyte), and burst-forming units of erythroid cells (BFU-E) in liquid long-term cultures. Using both fluorescence-activated cell sorting and complement-dependent cytotoxicity assays. HLA-DR determinants could be identified on virtually all these HPC capable of proliferating in long-term cultures. Experiments in which the stromal layer had been irradiated provided evidence that the HPC themselves were trully HLA-DR+, and that the sustained proliferation of HPC was not due to activation of HLA-DR- residual HPC in the stromal layer by reinoculated HLA-DR+ accessory cells. Furthermore, it was shown that all HPC recognized in semisolid and liquid long-term cultures were HLA-DQ-. These results suggest that the human true pluripotential stem cell is HLA-DR+. These results open the possibility of studying class II-dependent regulation of hematopoiesis in liquid long-term cultures.