- About this Journal
- Abstracting and Indexing
- Aims and Scope
- Article Processing Charges
- Articles in Press
- Author Guidelines
- Bibliographic Information
- Citations to this Journal
- Contact Information
- Editorial Board
- Editorial Workflow
- Free eTOC Alerts
- Publication Ethics
- Submit a Manuscript
- Table of Contents
ISRN Cell Biology
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 979480, 7 pages
doi:10.5402/2012/979480
Hematopoietic Microenvironment in the Fetal Liver: Roles of Different Cell Populations
Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 26 Vavilov Street, Moscow 119334, Russia
Received 10 September 2012; Accepted 2 October 2012
Academic Editors: E. Meacci, A. A. Minin, and C. C. Uphoff
Copyright © 2012 Olga V. Payushina. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Hematopoiesis is the main function of the liver during a considerable period of mammalian prenatal development. Hematopoietic cells of the fetal liver exist in a specific microenvironment that controls their proliferation and differentiation. This microenvironment is created by different cell populations, including epitheliocytes, macrophages, various stromal elements (hepatic stellate cells, fibroblasts, myofibroblasts, vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells, mesenchymal stromal cells), and also cells undergoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. This paper considers the involvement of these cell types in the regulation of fetal liver hematopoiesis.