Effects of thalidomide on cell growth and erythroid colony formation. (A) Human CD34+ cells were cultured in erythropoietin (EPO) medium with the indicated concentration of thalidomide for 2 weeks and counted on day 14. (B) Erythroid colonies (BFU-E + CFU-E) were calculated as numbers of colonies per well. CD34+ cells (1 × 103 cells/well) were cultured in methylcellulose with the indicated concentration of thalidomide. CFU-Es (▩) were evaluated at day 7 and BFU-Es (■) were evaluated at day 14. (C) Thalidomide (1-100 μM) was added to CD34+ cell cultures either for only the first week (days 0-7) or the second week (days 7-14), and the cells were counted on day 7 or day 14. Results are shown as means (± SD) from 3 different donors. *P < .05 versus untreated cells.
