The Axial Organ and the Pharynx Are Sites of Hematopoiesis in the Sea Urchin

Conclusions: Results presented here are consistent with previous speculations that the axial organ may be a site of coelomocyte proliferation and that it may also be a center for cellular removal and recycling. A second site, the pharynx, may also have hematopoietic activity, a tissue that has been assumed to function only as part of the intestinal tract. Background Hematopoiesis Hematopoiesis is the process in which a multipotent hematopoietic stem cell differentiates into one of potentially many terminally differentiated blood cell types (1). This process is tightly regulated by micro-environmental cues in hematopoietic tissues that include secreted molecules and cell surface receptors. Cell fate decisions are controlled by a series of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) composed of sets of transcription factors that regulate changes in gene expression associated phenotypic differentiation toward one cell type or another. Hematopoiesis is generally conserved among vertebrates with mouse and, more recently, zebrafish serving as primary model systems for understanding this differentiation process (2). In adult vertebrates, the rates of hematopoiesis and the release of new cells from hematopoietic tissues vary based on the immune state of the organism and the turnover of specific categories of immune cells during pathogen interactions or injury repair. Cell Proliferation Is Used to Identify Hematopoietic Tissues Proliferation of immune cells in response to pathogen challe...
Source: Frontiers in Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research