Human LTC-IC can be maintained for at least 5 weeks in vitro when interleukin-3 and a single chemokine are combined with O-sulfated heparan sulfates: requirement for optimal binding interactions of heparan sulfate with early-acting cytokines and matrix proteins.

We have shown that stromal O-sulfated heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans (O-S-GAGs) regulate primitive human hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) growth and differentiation by colocalizing heparin-binding cytokines and matrix proteins with HPC in stem cell "niches" in the marrow microenvironment. We now show that long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-IC) are maintained for 5 weeks in the absence of stroma when O-S-GAGs are added to IL-3 and either MIP-1alpha or PF4 (LTC-IC maintenance without GAGs, 32 +/- 2%; with GAGs, 95 +/- 7%; P <.001). When cultured with 5 additional cytokines, O-S-GAGs, IL-3, and MIP-1alpha, LTC-IC expanded 2- to 4-fold at 2 weeks, and 92 +/- 8% LTC-IC were maintained at 5 weeks. Similar results were seen when PF4 replaced MIP-1alpha. Although O-S-GAG omission did not affect 2-week expansion, only 20% LTC-IC were maintained for 5 weeks. When O-S-heparin was replaced by completely desulfated-, N-sulfated (O-desulfated), or unmodified heparins, LTC-IC maintenance at week 5 was not better than with cytokines alone. Unmodified- and O-S-heparin, but not desulfated- or N-sulfated heparin, bound to MIP-1alpha, IL-3, PF4, VEGF, thrombospondin, and fibronectin. However, the affinity of heparin for thrombospondin and PF4, and the association and dissociation rates of heparin for PF4, were higher than those of O-S-heparin. We conclude that (i) although cytokines may suffice to induce early expansion, adult human LTC-IC maintenance for longer than 1 month requires O-S-GAGs, and (ii) HPC support may depend not only on the ability of GAGs to bind proteins, but also on optimal affinity and kinetics of interactions that affect presentation of proteins in a biologically active manner to progenitors. (Blood. 2000;95:147-155)

Structurally specific heparan sulfates support primitive human hematopoiesis by formation of a multimolecular stem cell niche.

Stem cell localization, conservation, and differentiation is believed to occur in niches in the marrow stromal microenvironment. Our recent observation that long-term in vitro human hematopoiesis requires a stromal heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) led us to hypothesize that such HSPG may orchestrate the formation of the stem cell niche. We compared the structure and function of HS from M2-10B4, a hematopoiesis-supportive cell line, with HS from a nonsupportive cell line, FHS-173-We. Long-term culture-initiating cell (LTC-IC) maintenance was enhanced by PG from supportive cells but not by PG from nonsupportive cells (P <.005). The supportive HS were significantly larger and more highly sulfated than the nonsupportive HS. Specifically, supportive HS contained higher 6-O-sulfation on the glucosamine residues. In agreement with these observations, purified 6-O-sulfated heparin and highly 6-O-sulfated bovine kidney HS similarly maintained LTC-IC. In contrast, completely desulfated heparin, N-sulfated heparin, and unmodified heparin did not support LTC-IC maintenance. Moreover, the supportive HS promoted LTC-IC maintenance but not differentiation of CD34(+)/HLA-DR- cells into colony-forming cells (CFCs) and mature blood cells. The supportive HS but not the nonsupportive HS bound both cytokines and matrix components critical for hematopoiesis, including interleukin-3 (IL-3), macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1), and thrombospondin (TSP). Significantly more CD34(+) cells adhered directly to immobilized O-sulfated heparin than to N-sulfated or desulfated heparin. Thus, hematopoiesis-supportive stromal HSPG possessing large, highly 6-O-sulfated HS mediate the juxtaposition of hematopoietic progenitors with stromal cells, specific growth-promoting (IL-3) and growth-inhibitory (MIP-1 and platelet factor 4 [PF4]) cytokines, and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins such as TSP. We conclude that the structural specificity of stromal HSPG that determines the selective colocalization of cytokines and ECM components leads to the formation of discrete niches, thereby orchestrating the controlled growth and differentiation of stem cells. These findings may have important implications for ex vivo expansion of and gene transfer into primitive hematopoietic progenitors.