Three-dimensional analysis of the erythroblastic islands of mouse bone marrow *
The bone marrow hematopoietic compartment contains numerous erythroblastic islands as a morphological unit of erythropoiesis. The fine structure of the central cells of these islands was studied by means of electron microscopy and three-dimensional reconstruction from F4/80 immunostained thick paraffin sections. The central cells had numerous long and slender cell processes, 0.2～0.7μm in diameter, on their cell surfaces and cord-like processes branched, extending in-between surrounding erythroblasts. The three-dimensional computerized reconstruction showed that erythroblasts accumulated around the cord-like processes, and the processes bifurcated at the end and captured erythroblasts. (Accepted on Jury 15，2008)
