Fetal expression of hemonectin: an extracellular matrix hematopoietic
cytoadhesion molecule
C Peters, KS O'Shea, AD Campbell, MS Wicha and MW Long
Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor.
Hemonectin, a component of bone marrow extracellular matrix, is a lineage-
and organ-specific attachment molecule for cells of the granulocytic
lineage. We hypothesized that hemonectin is an important marker of fetal
granulopoiesis that is developmentally regulated during the ontogeny of the
hematopoietic system. Murine hematopoiesis originates in the yolk sac and
subsequently appears in the liver, spleen, and bone marrow. Using an
affinity-purified polyclonal antibody to purified hemonectin as a probe of
developing hematopoietic organs, we observe that hemonectin is coordinately
expressed at developmental stages of the mouse in those tissues that are
supporting hematopoiesis. Multiparameter flow cytometric analysis reveals
that approximately 7% of fetal liver cells express hemonectin by day 13 of
gestation, and that 32% of the cells are positive by day 19. Additionally,
restricted hemonectin expression is noted in other tissues (cartilage,
skin, developing bone, and capillary endothelial cells), suggesting that
this molecule subserves other developmental functions and/or belongs to a
previously unrecognized family of molecules.
Volume 75,
Issue 2,
pp. 357-364,
01/15/1990
Copyright © 1990 by The American Society of Hematology
