Establishment and characterization of bone marrow stroma-dependent leukemia cell line, HB-1

Radiation-induced M361 leukemia bearing mice (M361 mice) show characteristics of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) with granulocytosis. Granulocyte-macrophage colony forming unit (CFU-GM) increased in the bone marrow and spleen and high activity of colony stimulating factor (CSF) was found in the sera of M361 mice. A cell line (HB-1) was established from the spleen cells of M361 mice. Injection of HB-1 cells induced a similar leukemic response as M361 in syngeneic mice. HB-1 cells did not survive in the suspension culture, but proliferated when cultured on hemopoietic supportive stromal cells (MS-10). HB-1 cells appear to be strictly dependent on the hemopoietic supportive bone marrow stroma, which would provide a useful model for the study of cell-cell interactions between hemopoietic cells and marrow stromal cells.