In vitro duplication and 'cure' of haemopoietic defects in genetically anaemic mice

SEVERAL types of congenital, genetically determined macrocytic anaemias have been described in mice 1–4 . These models offer a means of analysing the effects of mutations at defined loci on the ability of haemopoietic tissue to support stem cell proliferation and differentiation and allow studies on intrinsic defects in differentiation capacity of stem cells. But, analysis of these mutations and their implications in relation to pluripotential stem cell control have been hampered by lack of techniques, particularly of in vitro systems, for further defining regulatory interactions between stem cells and the haemopoietic inductive microenvironment. Here we report that the haemopoietic defects seen in W and Steel (S1) mice have been successfully reproduced in vitro .