Fig. 1

Culture setup and flow cytometry strategy. a Scheme illustrating separation of the mononuclear cell (MNC) fraction, enrichment of CD34⁺ cells and seeding into scaffolds (3D) or suspension (2D) cultures, followed by 4 weeks of culture after which cells were aspirated and experiments performed. b Representative flow cytometry analysis for quantifying non-erythroid hematopoietic cells, erythroid progenitor cells (Ery prog), intermediate erythroblasts (Int-EryBs) and enucleated erythrocytes (RBCs) after 4 weeks of 3D CD34⁺ NBM culture. c Representative flow cytometry analysis for quantifying non-erythroid hematopoietic cells, erythroid progenitor cells (Ery prog), intermediate erythroblasts (Int-EryBs) and enucleated erythrocytes (RBCs) after 4 weeks of 3D CD34⁺ MDS-RS culture (see Supplementary Fig. 3 for representation of the other culture conditions)