Proliferative activity of vervet monkey bone marrow-derived adherent cells

Vervet monkey bone marrow-derived adherent cell population cultured in Fischer's medium supplemented with 12.5% fetal calf serum and 12.5% horse serum consists of two cell shapes: fusiform (type I) and polygonal (type II). Limiting-dilution cloning of the cells suggested that the two morphologically distinct cell types belong to the same cellular system even though they differ in their proliferative capabilities. The labeling index of type II cells, as measured by autoradiography, was found to be consistently lower than that of type I cells. It is probable that these two phenotypes represent different stages of differentiation, where progenitor type I gives rise to type II cells. The bone marrow-derived adherent cells were found to be cytokinetically at rest in vivo, using the thymidine suicide test, and relatively radioresistant with a D0 = 2.1 Gy and ñ = 2.36 at the time of explantation from the bone. Furthermore, in culture these cells are characterized by a relatively long cell cycle of 60 h, where the length of the S phase is 30 h, G2 is 12 h, M is 6 h, and G1 is 12 h. Thus the vervet monkey bone marrow-derived adherent cells represent a cell population with a low turnover rate both in vivo and in vitro.