Expression of IL-11 receptor  chain mRNA in single murine bone marrow primitive progenitor-enriched subpopulations.

Total RNA was prepared from single murine bone marrow cells, and first-strand cDNA was synthesized and amplified as described in “Materials and Methods.” The bottom frame shows the ethidium bromide-stained amplified cDNA transferred to a nylon membrane, probed with the IL-11 receptor α chain cDNA, and subjected to Fuji bio-imaging analysis (top frame). 10 5FU Lin⁻Sca-1⁺ c-kit⁺ cells (upper panel), NBM Lin⁻Sca-1⁺ c-kit⁺CD34⁻cells (middle panel), and NBM Lin⁻Sca-1⁺c kit⁺CD34⁺ cells (lower panel) were analyzed for IL-11 receptor α chain expression to avoid individual cell artifacts. Cell differences may represent heterogeneity in each subpopulation. T10 cells were used as a positive control for IL-11 receptor α chain, and FDC P1 cells were used as a negative control. The amplification protocol produces cDNA of variable lengths from any given transcript, so that smears rather than bands result when the membranes are hybridized to a corresponding probe.24