Serum albumin-free mouse cell cultures.

HSCs were cultured in media composed of F12 media, 1% ITSX, 1%, 10 mM HEPES, 1% P/S/G, 100 ng/ml mouse TPO, 10 ng/ml mouse SCF and 0.1% of one the following chemicals (all from Sigma): hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC; 435007), low-viscosity carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt (CMC-LV; C5678), medium viscosity carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt (CMC-MV; 21902), alpha-cyclodextrin (alpha-CD; C4642), beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD; C4767), gamma-cyclodextrin (gamma-CD; C4930), 2-hydroxypropyl-betal—cylodextrin (HBC; H107), 2-hydroxypropyl-gamma-cycldextrin (HGC; H125), methyl-beta-cylodextrin (MBC; C4555), poloxamer 188 (polox188; P5556), or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA; P8136, 363081, or 363146), at 37°C with 5% CO₂. For long-term cultures in PVA-based cultures, complete media changes were made every 2–3 days after the first 5–6 days, as described above for albumin-based cultures. Long-term cultures were split 1:3 at ~90% confluency. Where indicated, lipopolysaccharide (LPS; Sigma L2762) or IL-6 (Peprotech) were added to cultures.