Single adult human CD34⁺/Lin^-/CD38^- progenitors give rise to natural killer cells, B-lineage cells, dendritic cells, and myeloid cells

Marrow stromal cultures support adult CD34⁺/Lin^-/HLA-DR^- or CD34⁺/Lin^-/CD38^- cell differentiation into natural killer (NK) or myeloid cells, but unlike committed lymphoid progenitors (CD34⁺/Lin^- /CD45RA⁺/CD10⁺), no B cells are generated. We tested whether different microenvironments could establish a developmental link between the NK and B- cell lineages. Progenitors were cultured in limiting dilutions with interleukin-7 (IL-7), flt3 ligand (FL), c-kit ligand (KL), IL-3, IL-2, and AFT024, a murine fetal liver line, which supports culture of transplantable murine stem cells. NK cells, CD10⁺/CD19⁺ B-lineage cells and dendritic cells (DC) developed from the same starting population and IL-7, FL, and KL were required in this process. Single cell deposition of 3,872 CD34⁺/Lin^- /CD38^- cells onto AFT024 with IL-7, FL, KL, IL-2, and IL-3 showed that a one time addition of IL-3 at culture initiation was essential for multilineage differentiation from single cells. Single and double lineage progeny were frequently detected, but more importantly, 2% of single cells could give rise to at least three lineages (NK cells, B-lineage cells, and DC or myeloid cells) providing direct evidence that NK and B-lineage differentiation derive from a common lymphomyeloid hematopoietic progenitor under the same conditions. This study provides new insights into the role of the microenvironment niche, which governs the earliest events in lymphoid development.