Histology:

Hematopoeisis

Keaton Erickson - December 6, 2020

 Leukocytes
Overview Leukocyte Precursors
Process
Cytoplasm
● Granules? Color of
Granules?
● How much cytoplasm is
there? Is the cell primarily
nucleus or cytoplasm?
Nucleus
● This really boils down to
shape. Color, secondarily,
but you get most of the
information you need from
the shape.
Leukocytes
Neutrophil
MOST COMMON: 50 - 70% of
circulating WBCs.

Nucleus: Bi-Lobed Nuclei

Cytoplasm: Granules, but faint and

poorly stained.

Honestly… When in doubt, guess a

neutrophil lol.
Lymphocyte
2nd Most Common: 20 - 30%

Cytoplasm: Very little cytoplasm,

agranular.

Nucleus: Circular, occupies most of cell.

Monocytes
Prevalence: 2 - 10% of Circulating
WBCs.

Cytoplasm: Agranular, little extra

cytoplasm

Nucleus: Oddly shaped, but not lobed.

Can have a lot of different phenotypes. I
usually will look for a the classic
C-shaped, seen in these photos, but
there is definitely some variation in
nuclear presentation.
Eosinophil
Prevalence: 1 - 4% of circulating WBCs.

Cytoplasm: Has granules that will stain

VERY pink. You will notice these.

Nucleus: Usually bi-lobed. Not as well

defined as neutrophils, but same basic
structure.
Basophil
Prevalence: RARE! 0.5 - 1% of
Circulating WBCs.

Nucleus: Usually bi-lobed (like

eosinophils and neutrophils), but not
very well defined.

Cytoplasm: Very dark, dense granules

observed in cytoplasm. They look very
strange if you find them in a blood
sample.
Practice! Identify the following WBCs.
Practice. Identify these WBCs.
Hematopoiesis
Disclaimer...

I am definitely shakey on this material! There is a LOT of gray

area, so I will tell you what I know so far… But there’s a lot on
this material that I’m not certain about.
Okay… so WHERE will we observe
leukocyte maturation?
Bone marrow sampling! If we see blasts in a peripheral blood
sample, that is problematic and indicates a disease process is
present.

Normal maturation of leukocytes occurs within

Hematopoietic Tissue Cords contained within the bone
marrow.
Erythropoiesis
So, don’t quote me, but I think the three
highest yield erythroid precursors are
the BASOPHILIC erythroblast, the
POLYCHROMATOPHILIC erythroblast,
and the NORMOblast.

Relative size and cytoplasmic staining is

what I hang my hat on to identify these
precursors.
Granulopoiesis
3 resulting cell types: Eosinophils,
Basophils, and Neutrophils.

Use the cytoplasm to distinguish

between the 3 cell lineages.

Use the nuclear shape to distinguish

between each phase of the lineage.
 Try only the ones that I have
highlighted. I’m trying to pick
Practice! only clear examples of the
precursors.
Identify the Bone Marrow Precursor.