Effect of cytokine treatment on human CD34⁺PBSC engraftment in the BM of NOD/SCID mice.

Human engraftment of 59 mice transplanted with 0.6 × 10⁶CD34⁺ PBSCs and treated with TPO, SCF, and IL-3 (3C, n = 10); TPO, SCF, IL-3, IL-6, IL-11, and Fl3 (6C, n = 21); or without cytokines (PBS, n = 29) until time of sacrifice. The percentage of CD45⁺ human cells was determined by flow cytometry 2 (○), 4 (■), and 8 (●) weeks after transplantation. Each dot represents the level of human cells detected in the BM of a single engrafted (CD45⁺ cells > 0.5%) mouse. The engraftment rate was 80% ± 9% for the 3 groups. R = statistically significant difference (P = .03) in engraftment in the PBS group between weeks 2 and 8.