[Intra-embryonic hematopoiesis in mice].

In vertebrate embryos, all hemopoietic tissues that are successively active during ontogeny (fetal liver, thymus, spleen and bone marrow) are colonized by extrinsic hemopoietic stem cells (HSC). The exception to this rule is the yolk sac (YS) whose progenitors arise in situ. Moreover, the YS is the first hemopoietic site to appear in the embryo. In consequence, it was considered as the primary source of the HSC that transfer from one site to the other until the demonstration that, in birds, the source of definitive HSC was located in the aortic region of the embryo. To assess a possible contribution of intraembryonic sites to mouse hemopoietic development, we developed an in vitro approach that permits the detection of multipotent hemopoietic progenitors in the region surrounding the dorsal aorta. This new site, the paraaortic splanchnopleura (P-Sp), is active from the 10 somite stage to the stage of fetal liver colonization by HSC. The in vitro analysis of the hemopoietic potential of the P-Sp revealed that: 1) progenitors present in this region are multipotent since a single micromanipulated P-Sp cell can give rise to mature B and T lymphocytes and various myeloid cells, when cultivated in appropriate conditions; 2) the P-Sp is the only intraembryonic site endowed with this potential; 3) numbering progenitors present in the YS and P-Sp indicated that precursors appear in both locations at the 10-12 somite stage reaching 15 in each site at 9.5 dpc (25 somites), shortly before the beginning of fetal liver colonisation. During a cytological study of the 9-11 dpc embryo aimed to disclose the cellular basis for our experimental results, two potential hemopoietic sites were uncovered. Cells clusters that resemble avian intraaortic hemopoietic clusters were found in the arteries located close to the coelomic cavity (dorsal aorta, umbilical and omphalomesenteric arteries). Moreover, groups of cells strikingly similar to YS blood islands were uncovered in the mesentery. All these sites are located in areas formed from the P-Sp and are fully developed at the onset of fetal liver colonization. These hemogenic sites most probably develop from the hemopoietic precursors present in the P-Sp.