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The construction, analysis and legacy of the radiation chimaera
Author(s) -
Brynmor Thomas David
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.303.5
Subject(s) - spleen , haematopoiesis , chimera (genetics) , bone marrow , stem cell , transplantation , medullary cavity , irradiation , immunology , biology , cancer research , andrology , medicine , pathology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , physics , nuclear physics , gene
By August 1945 Jacobson and his associates in Chicago had observed that following the ingestion of 89Sr the murine spleen exerted a beneficial effect, which they attributed to a 'radiation protection factor' that could not be isolated from the spleen but which could be transferred to irradiated recipients in splenic implants or in suspensions of spleen cells. In 1952 Congdon, Lorenz and Uphoff at Bethesda successfully used bone marrow cells to protect mice against the lethal effects of whole body irradiation and recognized the possibility that protection could be due to the transplantation of blood cell precursors. This possibility was endorsed by the investigations of Barnes and Loutit in Harwell, which revealed that the radiation protection factor was antigenic and that it was preserved under conditions which were known to sustain living cells but not under conditions which were adequate for the preservation of unstable chemical compounds. Within four years the use of markers proved that donor bone marrow cells repopulate the medullary cavities of irradiated mice. The radiation chimaera had been constructed and the stage was set for three decades of research and development during which the transplantation of blood cell precursors was established as a routine treatment for impaired haematopoiesis, a unique model for the study of stem cell populations was analysed and the generation of a rich legacy was commenced.