Haematopoiesis and haematological malignancies Flashcards
What is haematopoiesis?
Process which regulates the proliferation of stem cells and their differentiation into mature blood cells
Which cells are found in the bone marrow?
Nucleated embryonic red blood cells
Which process happens in the bone marrow?
Site of white cell production
Which ways are there to study the health of the bone marrow?
Venesection
Lymph node aspirates and excision
Bone marrow aspirate and trephine bodies
What is venesection used for?
Assess mature blood cells
What are lymph node aspirates used for?
Assess lymphopoiesis
What are bone marrow aspirate and trephine biopsies used for?
Stem cells
Hematopoiesis
Early lymphopoiesis
What is the difference between bone marrow and trephine biopsies?
Bone marrow uses blood cells stained in suspension
Trephine views the structure of the bone marrow. Carries significant risk so is only carrried out in certain circumstances
Which haematopoietic lineages do haematopoietic stem cells give rise to?
Lymphoid
Myeloid
How are stem cells differentiated to the target cellls?
Stem cells -> progenitor cells -> precursor cells -> end cells
How often to stem cells divide in humans?
Once a year
How many times do stem cells divide before they apoptose?
70 times before apoptosis
20 of these divisions occur before the birth of a man
What happens to the properties of stem cells as they differentiate?
Properties are lost as the cells differentiate in expense of their specialisation
How can stem cells be identified?
In vivo assays
Expression of CD34+
How can progenitor cells be identified?
In vitro assays
Which assays are used to identify progenitor cells?
Colony forming assays
Placed in semi-solid medium and allowed to differentiate to blood cell types in 2-3 weeks
How can precursor cells be identified?
Morphologically recognisable
How can end cells be identified?
Fully differentiated
Have short lifespans
Negative for CD34 marker
Describe the structure of neutrophils
Lobed nuclei
Large structure
Describe the structure of lymphocytes
Large, granulated nuclei
How do stem cells divide?
Mostly asymetrically, by making one stem cell and one differentiated cell
Sometimes symetrically, by making either two differentiated cells or two new stem cells
Which factors affect the differentiation of progenitors into the differentiated cell types
ECM components
Growth factors
Mechanical forces