Characteristics of hemopoietic-supportive (MS-1 and MS-5) and non-supportive (MS-K) cell lines were compared. Supportive cells adhered to hemopoietic stem cells and produced granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), whereas non-supportive cells did not adhere to hemopoietic cells and only produced macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Both cell lines produced substantial levels of IL-6 and steel factor (SLF) which is reportedly a stem-cell factor. Northern blot analysis revealed that SLF but neither c-kit nor interleukin 3 (IL-3) mRNA was detectable in these cell lines, although IL-3-like activity was found in the supernatant of MS-5 cell culture. These observations suggest that the hemopoietic-supportive function of stromal cells may reside in adherence of stem cells, and production of GM-CSF probably in combination with SLF. SLF may be transferred from stromal cells directly to stem cells through adhesion of stem cells to supportive stromal cells.