Foetal haemopoiesis during the hepatic period. II. Topographic histology

Serial sections of mouse foetal liver, during the 9th and 16th days of gestation, were studied. The erythropoietic process starts in the central area of the growing hepatic lobes, and subsequently spreads towards the periphery. Each lobe passes successfully through an undifferentiated, proliferating and differentiating period, but does not proliferate and differentiate in a homogeneously synchronized way, since the onset of both histogenesis and erythropoiesis is delayed at the periphery, when compared with the central area. As a consequence, in sections it is possible to find three different zones, namely: marginal, which is the most undifferentiated; intermediate (transitional); and a central area, which is the most mature, since it is the first site where erythropoiesis arises. These zones are distinguishable not only by their cell distribution, but also by the biological behaviour of their elements, specially in the transitional areas between undifferentiated and proliferating zones. The hepatic lobes do not start their organogenesis at the same time; but those of them in which histogenesis is delayed, repeat courses of development similar to those previously organized. The first interstitial erythropoiesis appears in the central area, after the development of an organized network of sinuses, and in close relation to vascular channels. Dynamic images of immature blood cells, between interstitial and vascular spaces, suggesting passage through the endothelium, are often seen. These steps are followed, in a concentric form and spreading towards the periphery, by each hepatic lobe.