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Hematopoiesis
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Hematopoiesis is the body's blood factory: the process that makes erythrocytes, or red blood cells, along with platelets, granulocytes, lymphocytes, monocytes, and the other blood cells.
It all begins with a single cell, the multipotent hematopoietic stem cell. Multipotent means it can turn into many different things, and this cell has two options: it can renew itself, meaning make copies of itself, or it can differentiate, which is taking a step toward a more specialized cell. When it does, the path splits into two major lines, the common myeloid progenitor and the common lymphoid progenitor. It is a tree that splits into two trunks and then into branches.
In the bone marrow this happens in islands of hematopoietic tissue surrounded by vascular sinuses, which are spaces filled with blood. And mature cells leave through the venous sinuses.
In brief
Hematopoiesis is the process that makes erythrocytes, platelets, granulocytes, lymphocytes, monocytes, and the other blood cells.
It begins with the multipotent hematopoietic stem cell, which can renew itself or differentiate into progenitors; from there come the common myeloid progenitor and the common lymphoid progenitor.
It is a tree that splits into two trunks and then into branches.
In the bone marrow it happens in islands of hematopoietic tissue surrounded by vascular sinuses, and mature cells exit through the venous sinuses.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology InformationHistology, HematopoiesisPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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