Human fetal bone fragments implanted in the immunodeficient C.B-17 scid/scid (SCID) mouse were shown to sustain active human hematopoiesis in vivo. Human progenitor cell activity was maintained for as long as 20 weeks after implantation and was associated with multilineage differentiation in the engrafted bone. Thus, the bone implants provided stem cells as well as the microenvironment requisite for their long- term maintenance and multilineage differentiation. Administration of human erythropoietin (Epo) stimulated human erythropoiesis in human bone implants. This animal model may facilitate direct analysis of a wide variety of physiologic and pathologic conditions of human bone marrow (BM) in vivo.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.