The effect of human cytomeglavirus on proliferation of megakaryocyte progenitor cells in vitro

Objective To investigate the mechanism and suppression effect of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) on proliferation of megakaryocyte progenitors(CFU-Mk)in vitro.Methods Colony forming unit-assay was applied to observe the effect of HCMV-AD 169 strain on CFU-Mk of cord blood. The technique of PCR was used to demonstrate the existence of HCMV-AD 169 DNA in the colony cells of cultured CFU-Mk.Results 1.The number of CFU-Mk colonies in HCMV-infected groups decreased significantly compared with that of control group. The CFU-Mk formation was inhibited significantly after HCMV-AD 169 strain infection.The suppression effect showed a dose-dependent fashion: 46.7 % inhibition with 10 -1of HCMV, 29.7 % with 10 -2 and 14.5 % with 10 -3 in the CFU-Mix assay. The peak of CFU-Mk colonies (d16-18) was not significantly different between control group and experimental groups, but the duration of the CFU-Mk colonies in infected groups was significantly shorter than that in control group.2. HCMV-DNA was positively detected in the colony cells of viral infected group by PCR, while negative in control group.Conclusions HCMV-AD 169 strain may inhibit the differentiation and proliferation of CFU-Mk by infecting the hematopoietic progenitors. HCMV may cause the suppression of hematopoiesis by direct infection, which may be the main reason for HCMV infection associated with thrombocytopenia.