Modulation of normal and abnormal myeloid progenitor proliferation by cyclic nucleotides and PGE1

The effects of cyclic nucleotides and PGE1 upon the proliferation of normal granulocyte/macrophage progenitors were examined in in vitro systems and contrasted to the effects of these compounds on (1) granulocyte/macrophage progenitors from the peripheral blood of patients with myeolofibrosis/myeloid metaplasia (MF) and chronic myelogeneous leukemia (CML); and (2) blast progenitors from the peripheral blood of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and acute monocytic leukemia (AMoL). Cyclic AMP was found to be a concentration dependent inhibitor of colony proliferation in all systems tested. Cyclic GMP was an inconsistent enhancer of colony proliferation in all systems in a manner which was not clearly concentration dependent. The effect of PGE1 in normal systems was highly variable depending on the culture conditions, but it was generally found to be an inhibitor of colony proliferation. Cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP and PGE1 altered the release of colony stimulating activity from adherent bone marrow cells in a manner opposite to the direct effects of these compounds on progenitor cell proliferation. Abnormalities in response to PGE1 were found in progenitors from patients with CML (deficient inhibition), AMoL (stimulation of proliferation in certain concentration ranges), and MF (enhanced proliferation). Studies on one of the patients with MF indicated that a normally responding population could be defined by density-gradient separation. These data confirm the capacity of these compounds to modulate in vitro proliferation of myeloid progenitors, and suggest that aberrations of response to PGE1 may occur in subpopulations of cells from several myeloproliferative disorders.