Dyachenko M. Functional activity of bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

Identification of factors that may indicate disease progression in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a current issue in hematology, oncology and cell biology. We have studied such factors as the ability of hematopoietic stem cells and bone marrow progenitor cells to the formation of cell aggregates when cultured in semisolid agar, ability to maintain a long-term suspension culture without addition of exogenous growth factors, proliferative potential, and we have analyzed the morphological and phenotypic features of cells constituting the aggregates formed during cultivation. It is shown that changes in the functional characteristics of bone marrow cells were comparable for groups of patients prior to initiating therapy with TKІ and patients with suboptimal response to TKІ treatment that may indicate for accumulation during treatment of cells that are dormant and not sensitive to TKІ and are also capable of autocrine secretion of growth factors. Such factors as proliferative potential and cellular composition of colonies formed after culturing in semisolid agar, can serve not only to assess the state of the hematopoietic system at the time of investigation, but also to predict possibility of disease progression.