Hemopoiesis on macrophage-coated cellulose acetate membranes (CAMS) in mice: an immunological study

Macrophage-coated cellulose acetate membranes (CAMS), implanted into the peritoneal cavities of sublethally irradiated mice, support the growth of hemopoietic colonies. To investigate the nature of the precursor cells (CFU-ML) which form colonies on CAMS, we pre-treated marrow cells with rabbit anti-mouse brain serum (RAMBS), a known anti-pluripotent stem cell (CFU-S) serum, plus complement (C) and studied the number of colonies formed and the distribution of their sizes among the various histological types. Marrow cells pre-treated with RAMBS + C, even with the opportunity for interaction with macrophages in vivo, did not form fewer or smaller colonies than those formed from CRS + C treated cells, suggesting that most of the CFU-ML are antigenically distinct from CFU-S.