Interleukin-12 supports in vitro self-renewal of long-term hematopoietic stem cells

Hematopoietic stem cells(HSCs)self-renew or differentiate through division.Cytokines are essential for inducing HSC division,but the optimal cytokine combination to control self-renewal of HSC in vitro remains unclear.In this study,we compared the effects of interleukin-12(IL-12)and thrombopoietin(TPO)in combination with stem cell factor(SCF)on in vitro self-renewal of HSCs.Single-cell assays were used to overcome the heterogeneity issue of HSCs,and serum-free conditions were newly established to permit reproduction of data.In single-cell cultures,CD150^(+)CD48^(-)CD41^(-)CD34^(-)c-Kit^(+)Sca-1^(+)lineage^(-)SCs divided significantly more slowly in the presence of SCF+IL-12 compared with cells in the presence of SCF+TPO.Serial transplantation of cells from bulk and clonal cultures revealed that TPO was more effective than IL-12 at supporting in vitro self-renewal of short-term(<6 months)HSCs,resulting in a monophasic reconstitution wave formation,whereas IL-12 was more effective than TPO at supporting the in vitro selfrenewal of long-term(>6 months)HSCs,resulting in a biphasic reconstitution wave formation.The control of division rate in HSCs appeared to be crucial for preventing the loss of self-renewal potential from their in vitro culture.