The effects of prostaglandin E1 on megakaryocyte proliferation in vitro

A concentration of 560 nM Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), in a medium containing either 10% serum and 10% plasma, or 20% plasma and a platelet extract prepared from 24 x 10(6) platelets/ml, caused after four days of incubation in a plasma clot culture system, highly significant increases over the controls in both the number of megakaryocyte colonies/clot and megakaryocytes/clot. A linear dose-response relationship over the entire 14-560 nM range was also demonstrated in cultures containing serum, between the concentration of PGE1 in each culture, and the number of megakaryocyte colonies/clot and megakaryocytes/clot. However, PGE1 did not appear to stimulate megakaryocytes in cultures containing only 20% rat plasma.