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Bone Marrow- Types,

Structure and Functions
June 15, 2022 by Sagar Aryal

Edited By: Sagar Aryal

Bone Marrow is the soft, highly

vascular and flexible connective
tissue within bone cavities which
serve as the primary site of new
blood cell production
or hematopoiesis.
In adult humans, bone marrow is
primarily located in the ribs,
vertebrae, sternum, and bones
of the pelvis.

The majority of the cell types

involved in the immune system
is produced from a common
hemopoietic stem cell (HSC).
HSC are found in the fetal liver,
fetal spleen and neonate and
adult bone marrow.
Bone marrow is the primary
source of pluripotent stem cells
that give rise to all hemopoietic
cells (blood cells) including
lymphocytes.
As a part of the lymphatic
system, it is the major organ for
B cell maturation and gives rise
to the precursor cells of the
thymic lymphocytes.
The thymus and the bone
marrow are primary lymphoid
organs as T and B cells must first
undergo maturation in these
organs/tissues before migrating
to the secondary lymphoid
tissues, such as the spleen,
lymph nodes and mucosa
associated lymphoid tissues
(MALT).
Staring from the last months of
fetal development when bone
marrow becomes the dominant
site of hemopoiesis (blood cell
formation), the great majority of
cells involved in mammalian
immunity are derived from
precursors in the bone marrow.

Table of Contents
Types of Bone Marrow
Structure of Bone Marrow
Functions of Bone Marrow
References
Bone Marrow- Types, Structure
and Functions

Types of Bone Marrow

There are two categories of bone
marrow tissue: red
marrow and yellow marrow.
Most of the bone marrow during
birth to early adolescence is red
marrow while the red marrow is
replaced with yellow with age.

In adults, red marrow is confined

mostly to skeletal system bones
that serve to produce blood cells
and help remove old cells from
circulation. They contain
hematopoietic stem cells that
produce two other types of stem
cells: myeloid stem
cells and lymphoid stem cells.
These cells develop into red blood
cells, white blood cells, or
platelets.

Yellow marrow found in spongy

bones and in the shaft of long
bones, is non-vascular and consists
primarily of fat cells. It is
composed of hematopoietic tissue
that has become inactive.

Structure of Bone
Marrow
The structure of bone marrow
constitutes of hematopoietic tissue
islands and adipose cells
surrounded by vascular sinuses
interspersed within a meshwork of
trabecular bone.

The bone marrow is composed of

both cellular and non-cellular
components and structurally be
divided into vascular and non-
vascular regions.
The non-vascular section of bone
marrow is composed of
hemopoietic cells of various
lineages and maturity, packed
between fat cells, thin bands of
bony tissue (trabeculae),
collagen fibers, fibroblasts and
dendritic cells. This is where
hematopoiesis takes place.
The vascular section contains
blood vessels that supply
the bone with nutrients and
transport blood stem cells and
formed mature blood cells away
into circulation.
Ultrastructural studies show
hemopoietic cells cluster around
the vascular sinuses where they
mature, before they eventually
are discharged into the blood.
Lymphocytes are found
surrounding the small radial
arteries, whereas most immature
myeloid precursors are found
deep in the parenchyma.

Functions of Bone
Marrow
The bone marrow gives rise to all
of the lymphoid cells that
migrate to the thymus and
mature into T cells, as well as to
the major population of
conventional B cells.
B cells mature in the bone
marrow and undergo selection
for non-self before making their
way to the peripheral lymphoid
tissues.
Since the bone marrow
constitutes of the hemopoietic
cells derived from multipotential
stem cells, they not only give
rise to all of the lymphoid cells
found in the lymphoid tissue, but
also to all of the cells found in
the blood.
Platelets, which are crucial for
the blood clotting process, are
formed from bone marrow just
like other blood cells.
Yellow marrow is actively
involved in lipid storage.

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References
1. Bailey, Regina. (2017, October
16). Bone Marrow and Blood Cell
Development. Retrieved from
https://www.thoughtco.com/bone
-marrow-anatomy-373236
2. Lydyard, P.M., Whelan,A.,&
Fanger,M.W. (2005).Immunology
(2 ed.).London: BIOS Scientific
Publishers.
3. Owen, J. A., Punt, J., & Stranford,
S. A. (2013). Kuby Immunology
(7 ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman
and Company.
4. Playfair, J., & Chain, B. (2001).
Immunology at a Glance.
London: Blackwell Publishing.

Read Also:
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Bone Marrow- Types,

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About Author

Sagar Aryal

Sagar Aryal is a microbiologist

and a scientific blogger. He is
doing his Ph.D. at the Central
Department of Microbiology,
Tribhuvan University,
Kathmandu, Nepal. He was
awarded the DAAD Research
Grant to conduct part of his
Ph.D. research work for two
years (2019-2021) at
Helmholtz-Institute for
Pharmaceutical Research
Saarland (HIPS), Saarbrucken,
Germany. Sagar is interested
in research on actinobacteria,
myxobacteria, and natural
products. He is the Research
Head of the Department of
Natural Products, Kathmandu
Research Institute for
Biological Sciences (KRIBS),
Lalitpur, Nepal. Sagar has
more than ten years of
experience in blogging,
content writing, and SEO.
Sagar was awarded the SfAM
Communications Award 2015:
Professional Communicator
Category from the Society for
Applied Microbiology (Now:
Applied Microbiology
International), Cambridge,
United Kingdom (UK).

2 thoughts on “Bone Marrow-

Types, Structure and
Functions”

Rita
May 11, 2020 at 3:20 PM

This article has clear

diagrams/pictoral
representations which I
would like to use for
teaching purposes.
Please will you consider
sharing with me?

Many thanks & kind regards

Rita Govender

Reply

Sagar Aryal
May 11, 2020 at 9:36 PM

Sure, you can share the

diagrams.

Reply

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