[Hematopoietic microenvironment: cellular and extracellular matrix elements].

: In bone marrow, cellular stroma together with extracellular matrix (EM) provide an adequate microenvironment for the proliferation and differentiation of hemopoietic progenitor cells. In this article we describe studies on the cell characteristics of a main stromal phenotype, a fibroblast-like cell and its ability to produce in vitro EM components. Comparative studies were performed in fibroblast cultures derived from normal and acute lymphoblastic leukemic (ALL) bone marrow. The grow characteristics of fibroblasts from ALL marrow as well as its capacity to synthetize collagen, fibronectin and GAGs are impaired when compared to fibroblast from normal marrow. Thus, in ALL the impaired production of EM biomolecules by a transient damaged population of stromal cells, may contribute to the development of a defective microenvironment for hemopoiesis.