To investigate the potential role of platelets in the inhibition of megakaryocytopoiesis, freeze-thawed extracts of human platelets were added to serumless liquid cultures of murine marrow. When acetylcholinesterase (AchE), a marker of megakaryocytic differentiation in mice, was assayed, a significant inhibition of enzymatic activity was noted in cultures containing the equivalent of greater than 5 X 10(6) solubilized platelets per milliliter. Freeze-thawed extracts of granulocytes had significantly less inhibitory effect than did platelets. Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), a growth factor known to be inhibitory to some cell lineages and to be found at relatively high concentrations in platelets, was then added to liquid marrow cultures. A similar inhibition of AchE activity was detected when cultures were stimulated with mitogen-stimulated conditioned medium. The effect was potent with 50% inhibition of AchE activity observed at 4 pmol TGF-beta/L. To determine if TGF-beta inhibited specifically one aspect of megakaryocytic differentiation, the factor was added to isolated single megakaryocytes in serumless culture induced by interleukin 3 (IL3) to increase in size. The number of megakaryocytes increasing in size in response to IL 3 exposure was reduced from 68% to 20% when both factors were simultaneously added to cultures. Colony assays showed that megakaryocytic and granulocyte-macrophage colony detection was inhibited at picomolar concentrations of the factor. These data suggest that TGF-beta is a potent in vitro inhibitor of the murine megakaryocytic lineage, although its effects are not limited to this lineage.