Novel epithelial-mesenchymal stromal cells identified in fetal liver.

2003 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel class of epithelial-mesenchymal stromal cells has been identified in the fetal liver.

"Liver becomes the predominant site of hematopoiesis by 11.5. dpc (days after coitus) in the mouse and 15 gestational weeks in humans and stays so until the end of gestation," researchers in France explained. "The reason the liver is the major hematopoietic site during fetal life is not clear."

J. Chagraoui and colleagues at Hopital Paul Brousse in Villejuif "tried to define which of the fetal liver microenvironmental cell populations would be associated with the development of hematopoiesis," and found that "a population of …