Browse the corpus

Hematopoiesis is the process of creating a wide variety of blood and bone marrow cells, namely erythrocytes, platelets, granulocytes, lymphocytes, and monocytes. This process begins with multipotent hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) which have the capability of dividing into either a multipotent progenitor cell or to self-renew. Progenitor cells are then able to divide into increasing specialized cells, a process which repeats and eventually leads to mature white blood cells, red blood cells, or platelets. This series of divisions in hematopoiesis creates a chart with several branch points beginning with the multipotent progenitor cells dividing into either a common myeloid progenitor or a common lymphoid progenitor. Common myeloid progenitors eventually go on to create megakaryocytes, erythrocytes, basophils, neutrophils, eosinophils, and monocytes. Common lymphoid progenitors will produce Natural Killer cells as well as B and T lymphocytes.[1] Multi-potent progenitors and any cells the progenitors create lack the capacity to self-renew and must instead always divide into a further specialized cell. Which type of cell the HSCs and progenitor cells divide into is largely decided by the specific signaling factors such as erythropoietin, Interleukin (IL) -2, IL-3, IL-6, IL-7, a variety of colony stimulating factors, and the, niche that the HSC develops in.[2]