Establishment in culture and characterization of a strain with mast cell and monocytic properties from the bone marrow of a child with diffuse cutaneous mastocytosis.

Bone marrow was isolated from a child with congenital mastocytosis. Upon prolonged in vitro culture, initially in the presence of interleukin-3 (IL-3), a population of relatively large fusiform, strongly adherent cells grew out plus a subpopulation of smaller nonadherent cells. The morphology of the adherent cells was not typical of fibroblasts, epithelial cells, nor of standard hematopoietic cell types, whereas the morphology of the nonadherent cells resembled mast cells.