Impaired splenic erythropoiesis in phlebotomized mice injected with CL2MDP-liposome: An experimental model for studying the role of stromal macrophages in erythropoiesis

Erythropoiesis occurs in the presence of erythropoietin (EPO) without macrophages in vitro. In hematopoietic tissues, however, erythroid cells associate closely with stromal macrophages, forming erythroblastic islands via interactions with adhesion molecues. To elucidate the role of macrophages in erythropoiesis, we selectively abrogated stromal macrophages of splenic red pulp of phlebotomized mice by injection with dichloromethylene disphosphohate encapsulated in multilamellar liposomes (CL2MDP-liposome). In the spleen, no erythropoietic activity occurred until 5 days after the treatment. Colony assay revealed that the erthropoiesis was suppressed at the level of CFU-E. The splenic erythropoietic activity gradually developed from day 6 after the treatment, when F4/80⁺ macrophages began to appear in the red pulp. EPO mRNA was expressed in kidney but not in liver or spleen of phlebotomized mice injected with CL2MDP-liposome, and the serum EPO concentration in these mice was higher than that in phlebotomized mice. These findings suggest that abrogation of stromal macrophages by injection with CL2MDP-liposome impairs the splenic microenvironment for erythopoiesis induced by hypoxic stress, and this may be an excellent experimental model for further characterization of the in vivo role of splenic macrophages in erythropoiesis.