Fig. 1
From: Differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into erythroid cells
In vivo erythropoiesis. Erythropoiesis is a complex process in the bone marrow in which HSCs proliferate and give rise to erythroid committed progenitors (EPC) and mature red blood cells (RBCs). During development, HSCs lose their self-renewal properties and become restricted to generate burst-forming unit (BFU-E), colony-forming unit-erythroid (CFU-E), basophilic (BasoE), polychromatophilic (PolyE), orthochromatic erythroblasts (OrthoE), reticulocytes (Retic), and RBCs. Erythropoiesis is controlled by cell-cell/cell-matrix interactions along with several cytokines and growth factors including IL-3, IL-6, erythropoietin (EPO) (the main erythropoietic stimulating hormone), EPO-receptor, members of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), activin A, activin receptor-II, Flt3 ligand (Flt3-L), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), stem cell factor (SCF), and thrombopoietin (TPO)