Effect of VEGF on hematopoiesis in AGM culture.

Cells in the AGM region of wild-type embryos were incubated in the presence or absence of various concentrations of VEGF for 10 days. Nonadherent cells were analyzed for colony-forming activity in the presence of IL-3, IL-6, and EPO. Colonies were enumerated on the seventh day of culture. Culture conditions: SFO—SCF, bFGF, and OSM; SFOV—SCF, bFGF, OSM, and 10 ng/mL VEGF; SFOV (×10)—SCF, bFGF, OSM, and 100 ng/mL VEGF. Note that M-CSF increases the number of CFU-M in a dose-dependent manner (indicated by asterisk) and reduces the number of CFU-GEMM (indicated by double asterisk). P < .01 (Student t test). Sizes of error bars, shown in GEMM, were 1.0, 0.6, and 0.6, respectively. P < .05 (Studentt test).