Mice lacking both macrophage- and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor have macrophages and coexistent osteopetrosis and severe lung disease

Mice deficient in granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF, CSF-1) were generated by interbreeding GM-CSF-deficient mice generated by gene targeting (genotype GM-/-) with M-CSF-deficient osteopetrotic mice (genotype M-/-, op/op). Mice deficient in both GM-CSF and M-CSF (genotype GM-/-M-/-) are viable and have coexistent features corresponding to mice deficient in either factor alone. Like M-CSF-deficient mice, they have osteopetrosis and are toothless because of failure of incisor eruption. Like GM-CSF-deficient mice, they have a characteristic alveolar-proteinosis-like lung pathology, but it is more severe than that of GM-CSF-deficient mice and is often fatal. In particular, in GM-/-M-/- mice the accumulation of lipo-proteinaceous alveolar material is more marked, and bacterial pneumonic infections are more prevalent and more extensive, particularly involving Gram-negative bacteria. Neutrophilia consistently accompanies pulmonary infections, and some older GM-/-M-/- mice have polycythemia. Survival of GM-/-M-/- mice is significantly reduced compared with mice deficient in either factor alone, and all GM-/-M-/- mice have broncho- or lobar-pneumonia at death. These observations indicate that in vivo, M-CSF is involved in modulating the consequences of GM-CSF deficiency in the lung. Interestingly, GM-/-M-/- mice have circulating monocytes at levels comparable with those in M-CSF-deficient mice and the diseased lungs of all GM-/-M-/- mice contain numerous phagocytically active macrophages, indicating that in addition to GM-CSF and M-CSF, other factors can be used for macrophage production and function in vivo.

Granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor-deficient mice show no major perturbation of hematopoiesis but develop a characteristic pulmonary pathology

Mice homozygous for a disrupted granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene develop normally and show no major perturbation of hematopoiesis up to 12 weeks of age. While most GM-CSF-deficient mice are superficially healthy and fertile, all develop abnormal lungs. There is extensive peribronchovascular infiltration with lymphocytes, predominantly B cells. Alveoli contain granular eosinophilic material and lamellar bodies, indicative of surfactant accumulation. There are numerous large intraalveolar phagocytic macrophages. Some mice have subclinical lung infections involving bacterial or fungal organisms, occasionally with focal areas of acute purulent inflammation or lobar pneumonia. Some features of this pathology resemble the human disorder alveolar proteinosis. These observations indicate that GM-CSF is not essential for the maintenance of normal levels of the major types of mature hematopoietic cells and their precursors in blood, marrow, and spleen. However, they implicate GM-CSF as essential for normal pulmonary physiology and resistance to local infection.

Detection of synergistic factor and interleukin-3 activity in the serum and ascites fluid of mice bearing the WEHI-3 tumour

Media conditioned (CM) by WEHI-3 cells (a myelomonocytic leukemia cell line) contains a number of haemopoietic growth factors, including synergistic factor (SF) and interleukin-3 (IL3). We have investigated the production of SF and IL3 in vivo in mice bearing the WEHI-3 tumour. SF and IL3 activity were detected in both the sera and ascites fluids of these mice. SF from the ascites fluid was partially purified by a four-step purification schedule consisting of ammonium sulphate fractionation, DEAE-cellulose, hydroxylapatite, and Sephadex G-100 chromatography. This purification sequence resulted in approximately a 250- and 187-fold purification of SF and IL3 respectively on the initial starting material with a yield of 13 and 9.7% respectively of the initial activity. At each stage of purification, the fractions containing SF co-purified with IL3 activity, further supporting our previous report that SF and IL3 are probably identical molecules. The characteristics of the in-vivo derived (sera and ascites fluid) activities were found to be similar to those of the factors produced in vitro in WEHI-3 cell conditioned media. These results support the conclusion that SF and IL3 are produced in vivo in WEHI-3 tumour bearing mice and are not in vitro artifacts.

In vivo synchronization of haemopoietic stem cells with hydroxyurea

Four injections of hydroxyurea 1 mg/g body weight, given to normal mice 31, 24, 10 and 7 h before sampling bone marrow, reduced CFU-S content of femoral marrow to 30% of normal in Balb/c female and to 10% of normal in C57 B1 male mice. Over 80% of the surviving CFU-S were in the S phase of cycle, as judged from their sensitivity to killing by hydroxyurea or ARA-C.

Proliferation of erythroid and granulocyte progenitors in the spleen as a function of stem cell dose

A study of the kinetics of cellular proliferation, in the morphologically unrecongizable haemopoietic progenitor cell compartment, as a function of injected CFU-S dose has been carried out in the spleens of lethally X-irradiated mice using 3H-TdR labelling. Amplification in this proliferating cell compartment was observed to decline as CFU-S dose increased. The number of divisions in the differentiated line arising from CFU-S up to the first appearance of recognizable erythroid precursors were calculated to be 9-2, 12-5, 15 and 17 for the 2, 0-35, 0-05 and 0-007 femur equivalent doses respectively. The growth of cell populations arising from CFU-S was biphasic, with a rapid initial phase having a doubling time of about 6-3 hr, and a slow phase of doubling time around 1 day. Analysis of the rapid phase by the FLM method gave a cycle time of 5-6 hr, Recognizable labelled erythroid precursors were detected at the same time as, or just after, the change in slope of the growth curve. Significant numbers of proliferating (labelled) granulocytes only appeared in the spleens of animals receiving the higher marrow doses (2 and 0-35 femur). The erythroid to granulocyte ratio was also a decreasing function of marrow dose.

Chronic repetitive suppurations of skin associated with a serum factor affecting bactericidal capacity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes

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Acute onychia and onycholysis due to an enzyme detergent

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Search for organic compounds in the lunar dust from the sea of tranquiblity

A sample of lunar dust was examined for organic compounds. Carbon detected in concentrations of 157 micrograms per gram had a delta(13)C per mil (PDB) value of + 20. Treatment with hydrochloric acid yielded hydrocarbons of low molecular weight, suggesting the presence of carbides. The gas chromatogram of the acylated and esterified derivatives of the hydrolyzate was similar to that obtained for the Pueblito de Allende meteorite. There were no detectable amounts of extractable high-molecular-weight alkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, isoprenoid hydrocarbons, normal alkanes, fatty acids, amino acids, sugars, or nucleic acid bases. Traces of porphyrins were found, perhaps arising from rocket exhaust materials.