Burst-forming unit

Figure 10.1 A simplified overview of the haematopoietic process as currently understood. Refer to text for details (BFU burst forming unit)...

Note BFU-E = erythroid precursor or burst-forming unit see text for details. 

Abbreviations BFUe = burst forming units, erythrocyte lineage... 

FIGURE 98-3. Proposed differentiation pattern of cells into mature erythrocytes with identification of various immature cell types. In addition, the cells that may be stimulated by the cytokine erythropoietin (EPO) are identified. BM, bone marrow BFU, burst-forming unit CFU, colony-forming unit E, erythroid EB, erythroblast OC, orthochromatophilic PB, peripheral blood PC, polychro-matophilic RBC, red blood cell retie, reticulocyte. 

FIGURE 98-6. Maturation steps of megakaryocyte precursors prior to becoming mature platelets. BFU, burst-forming unit CFU, colony-forming unit MK, megakaryocyte. 

BFU burst-forming unit BMT bone marrow transplantation CD cluster of differentiation CFU colony-forming unit CSF colony-stimulating factor EPO erythropoietin... 

Stem cell differentiation involves a series of steps that produce so-called burst-forming units (BFU) and colony-forming units (CFU) for each of the major cell lines. Colonies of morphologically distinct cells form under the control of an overlapping set of additional growth factors (G-CSF, M-CSF, erythropoietin, and thrombopoietin). Proliferation and maturation of the CFU for each cell line can amplify the resulting mature cell product by another 30-fold or more, generating >1000 matme cells from each committed stem cell. 

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