The most common cell type in the human body, the red blood cell or erythrocyte, has a life span of approximately 3 months. To compensate for this massive cellular requirement and short life span, the major blood producing tissues contain vast numbers of erythroid progenitor cells. Erythroid progenitors differentiate progressively from hematopoietic stem cells to committed erythroid progenitors to reticulocytes lacking a nucleus and finally to functionally mature erythrocytes in the circulation. Different erythroid progenitor activity, representative of distinct stages of erythropoiesis, can be observed using semisolid colony assays. Distinct stages of erythroid maturation can also be monitored by flow cytometry. Here, we discuss the range of different technical approaches that are used to identify and quantify erythroid progenitors, with particular focus on the mouse as a model system.
Keywords: Anemia; Bone marrow; Erythroid; Progenitor; Red blood cells; Spleen.