The Emergence of Blood and Blood Vessels in the Embryo and Its Relevance to Postnatal Biology and Disease

Chapter
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Part of the Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering book series (BIOMEDICAL)

Abstract

Blood and blood vessels develop in parallel within mammalian systems, and this temporal and spatial association has led to the confirmation of an endothelial origin of hematopoiesis. The extraembryonic yolk sac and aorto-gonado-mesonephros (AGM) region both contain a specialized population of endothelial cells (“hemogenic endothelium”) that function to produce hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, which then differentiate to provide the full complement of blood cells within the developing embryo and furthermore in the adult system. Therefore, this population has great therapeutic potential in the fields of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. This chapter reviews the development of the vascular and hematopoietic systems, characterization and function of the hemogenic endothelium within embryonic and embryonic stem cell (ES cell) models, and speculate on the presence of such a population within the adult system. In order to harness this endothelial subtype for clinical application, we must understand both the normal functions of these cells and the potential for misregulation in disease states.

Keywords

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Endothelial Progenitor Cell Side Population Embryoid Body Adult Bone Marrow 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like thank Dr. Sharon Gerecht for the opportunity to contribute to this book and additional reviewers for critiques of the manuscript.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Interdisciplinary Program in Cell and Molecular Biology, Departments of Pediatrics and of Molecular and Cellular BiologyCenter for Cell and Gene Therapy and Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of MedicineHoustonUSA

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