Analysis and manipulation of hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells from murine embryonic tissues.

Hematopoietic development begins in several locations in the mammalian embryo: yolk sac, aorta-gonad-mesonephros region (AGM), and the chorio-allantoic placenta. Generation of the most potent cells, adult definitive hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), occurs within the body of the mouse embryo at midgestation in the AGM region. Similarly, at the equivalent developmental time in the human embryo, the AGM region has been shown to contain multipotent progenitors. Hence, the mouse embryo serves as an excellent model to study hematopoietic development. To further studies on the ontogeny of the adult hematopoietic system, the focus of this unit is on the experimental methods used in analysis of the AGM region.