“…Among IL‐11 [9], PDGF [10], IL‐3 [11], IL‐6 [12], and SDF‐1α [8], which have all been accepted as megakaryocytopoiesis stimulators, IL‐11 was proven to be the most potent in enhancing megakaryocytic lineage expansion when it was used in combination with a cytokine cocktail of SCF/TPO/FL in our cultivation system (Table 1). Since IL‐11 acts directly on hematopoietic progenitor/stem cells and enhances megakaryocyte maturation as measured by a shift to higher ploidy values, its megakaryocytic progenitor expansion activities are predominantly a result of synergistic interaction with other early‐acting factors such as IL‐3 and SCF [16, 35, 38]. It therefore seemed reasonable to use IL‐11 in combination with SCF/TPO/FL for second phase, and in fact, the addition of PDGF, SDF‐1α, IL‐3, IL‐6, or TGF‐β ab to the SCF/TPO/FL/IL‐11 combination did not enhance the generation of megakaryocytic lineage cells.…”