Int. J. Dev. Biol. 54: 1011 - 1018 (2010)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.093056jp

Vol 54, Issue 6-7

Special Issue: Developmental Hematopoiesis

Primitive erythropoiesis in the mammalian embryo

Published: 17 July 2010

James Palis*, Jeffrey Malik, Kathleen E. McGrath and Paul D. Kingsley

University of Rochester Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, Center for Pediatric Biomedical Research, New York, USA

Abstract

Erythropoiesis in adult mammals is characterized by the progressive maturation of hematopoietic stem cells to lineage-specific progenitors, to morphologically identifiable precursors which enucleate to form mature erythrocytes. In contrast, primitive erythropoiesis is characterized by the appearance within the yolk sac of a transient, lineage-restricted progenitor population which generates a wave of erythroid precursors. These precursors undergo progressive maturation in the bloodstream, characterized by nuclear condensation and embryonic hemoglobin accumulation. This process is dependent on erythropoietin signaling through its cognate receptor, as well as the function of several erythroid-specific transcription factors, including GATA1 and EKLF. Targeted disruption of genes in the mouse that result in failure of the emergence or maturation of the primitive erythroid lineage leads to early fetal death, indicating that the primitive erythroid lineage is necessary for survival of the mammalian embryo. While it was thought for over a century that primitive erythroid cells were uniquely nucleated mammalian red cells, it is now recognized that they, like their definitive erythroid counterparts, enucleate to form reticulocytes and pyrenocytes. This surprising finding indicates that the primitive erythroid lineage is indeed mammalian, rather than non-mammalian, in character.

Keywords

erythropoiesis, enucleation, yolk sac