HISTOLOGY

CHAPTER 13: HEMOPOIESIS

OUTLINE
Stem Cells, Growth Factors, & Differentiation
Hemopoietic Stem Cells
Progenitor & Precursor Cells
Bone Marrow
Maturation of Erythrocytes
Maturation of Granulocytes
Maturation of Agranulocytes

 Hemopoiesis – blood cell formation

 In the early embryo blood cells arise in the yolk
sac mesoderm
 In the second trimester, hemopoiesis occurs
primarily in the liver
 In the third-trimester marrow of specific bones
becomes the major hemopoietic organ

Figure 2. Origin and differentiative stages of blood cells

Figure 1. Locations of hemopoiesis
Stem Cells, Growth factors, & Differentiation
 Pluripotent cells – capable of asymmetric division
and self-renewal; some daughter cells form
specific, irreversibly committed progenitor cells
and other daughter cells remain as a small pool of
slowly dividing stem cells
Hemopoietic Stem Cells
 Hemopoietic Stem Cell – can give rise to all the
blood cell types; rare, proliferate slowly, and give
rise to two major lineages of progenitor cell with
restricted potentials:
o Lymphoid cells
o Myeloid cells
Progenitor & Precursor Cells
 Colony-forming unites (CFUs) – progenitor cells
for blood cells; give rise to colonies of only one
type; four major types of progenitor cells/CFUs
o Erythroid lineage of erythrocytes
o Thrombocytic lineage of megakaryocytes
for platelet formation
o Granulocyte-monocyte lineage of all
three granulocytes and monocytes
o Lymphoid lineage of B lymphocytes, T
lymphocytes, and natural killer cells
 Colony-stimulating factors (CSF) or cytokines –
hemopoietic growth factors; glycoproteins that
stimulate proliferation of progenitor and precursor
cells and promote cell differentiation and
maturation within specific lineages
Bone Marrow
 Bone marrow – found in medullary canals of long
bones and in small cavities of cancellous bone;
two types based on appearance at gross
examination:
o Red bone marrow – color is produced by
an abundance of blood and hemopoietic
cells
o Yellow bone marrow – filled with
adipocytes
Red Bone Marrow
 Contains a reticular connective tissue stroma,
hemopoietic cords or islands of cells and
sinusoidal capillaries
 Stroma – a meshwork of specialized fibroblastic
cells called stromal cells (also called reticular or
adventitial cells)
Maturation of Erythrocytes
 Proerythroblast – distinct erythroid progenitor cell;
large cell with loose, lacy chromatin, nucleoli, and
basophilic cytoplasm
 Basophilic erythroblast – slightly smaller with
cytoplasmic basophilia and a more condensed
nucleus
 Polychromatophilic erythroblast – cell volume is
reduced, polysomes decrease, and some
cytoplasmic areas begin to be filled with
hemoglobin producing regions of both basophilia
and acidophilia
 Orthochromatophilic erythroblast (normoblasts) –
cell and nuclear volumes continue to condense and
basophilia is gradually lost, producing cells with
uniformly acidophilic cytoplasm

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HISTOLOGY 2ND SEMESTER (AY 2022-2023)

 Reticulocytes – nucleus is ejected, cell still retains

a few polyribosomes which form a faintly stained
network

Figure 4. Formation of granules

Maturation of Agranulocytes
Monocytes
 Monoblast – a committed progenitor cell
 Promonocyte – large cell with basophilic
cytoplasm and a large, slightly indented nucleus;
chromatin is lacy and nucleoli are evident
 Monocytes – contain extensive RER and large
Golgi complexes forming lysosomes
 Monocytes circulate in blood and enter tissues
where they mature as macrophages
Lymphocytes
 Lymphoblast – the first identifiable progenitor of
Figure 3. Summary of erythrocyte maturation
lymphoid cells
Maturation of Granulocytes  Lymphocytes – smaller nuclei, nucleoli disappear,
 Myeloblast – most immature recognizable cell in and cell size decrease
the myeloid series; have finely dispersed Origin of Platelets
chromatin, and faint nucleoli  Megakaryoblasts – very large, fairly rare cells in
 Promyelocyte – characterized by basophilic bone marrow with very basophilic cytoplasm;
cytoplasm and azurophilic granules containing undergo endomitosis (DNA replication without
lysosomal enzymes and myeloperoxidase intervening cell divisions), becoming polyploid
 Myelocyte – first visible sign of differentiation in  Megakaryocytes – giant cells, up to μm in
which specific granules gradually increase in diameter with polyploid nuclei that are large and
number irregularly lobulated with coarse chromatin
 Band cell – intermediate stage in which the  Proplatelets – long, branching pseudopodia-like
nucleus is elongated but not yet polymorphic projections
 Metamyelocyte – all granules are fully dispersed
 Neutrophils – composes the vast majority of
granulocytes; developing and mature neutrophils
exist in four functionally and anatomically defined
compartments:
1. A granulopoietic compartment in bone
marrow with developing progenitor cells
2. A storage (reserve) compartment, also in red
marrow, acts as a buffer system, capable of
releasing large numbers of mature neutrophils
as needed. Trillions of neutrophils typically
move from marrow to the bloodstream every
day
3. A circulating compartment throughout the
blood
4. A marginating compartment, in which cells
temporarily do not circulate but rather
accumulate temporarily at the surface of the
endothelium in venules and small veins