Primary, self-renewing erythroid progenitors develop through activation of both tyrosine kinase and steroid hormone receptors

Background: Self renewal in the hematopoietic system is thought to be restricted to a class of pluripotent stem cells. The capacity of cells with the properties of committed progenitors to self renew in many leukemias is thought to be an abnormal property resulting from the mutations responsible for leukemic transformation. It is not known how cells that can self-renew differ from cells that cannot. The notion that only pluripotent stem cells self renew has recently been challenged: normal committed erythroid progenitors capable of sustained self renewal have been described. These cells, called SCF/TGFα progenitors, co-express the c-Kit receptor tyrosine kinase and c-ErbB, the avian receptor for epidermal growth factor and transforming growth factor (TGF) α, and they undergo continuous self renewal in response to TGFα and estradiol. In contrast, common erythroid progenitors (termed SCF progenitors) express only c-Kit and undergo a limited number of cell divisions in response to the c-Kit ligand, stem cell factor (SCF). Both types of progenitor faithfully reproduce terminal erythroid differentiation in vitro when exposed to differentiation factors. Here, we have investigated the developmental origin of these two classes of self-renewing erythroid progenitors. Results We show that SCF progenitors can develop into SCF/TGFα progenitors. This developmental conversion requires 10–14 days and is accompanied by a gradual up-regulation of bioactive TGFα receptor. Using sera depleted of endogenous growth factors, we demonstrate that the development of SCF progenitors into SCF/TGFα progenitors absolutely requires the simultaneous presence of SCF, TGFα and estradiol, and is strongly enhanced by an unknown activity in chicken serum. Conclusion SCF progenitors can be induced to develop into self-renewing SCF/TGFα progenitors. The development of self renewal is triggered by specific combinations of growth factors and hormones. This has important implications for understanding leukemogenesis, as the self renewal of leukemic cells may reflect the normal potential of certain committed progenitor cells and not, as has been thought, a unique abnormal property of leukemic cells.