CFU-Meg is a
colony forming unit
In microbiology, colony-forming unit (CFU, cfu or Cfu) is a unit which estimates the number of microbial cells (bacteria, fungi, viruses etc.) in a sample that are viable, able to multiply via binary fission under the controlled conditions. Count ...
.
Haematopoiesis in the bone marrow starts off from a haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) and this can differentiate into the myeloid and lymphoid cell lineages. In order to eventually produce a megakaryocyte, the haematopoietic stem cell must generate myeloid cells, so it becomes a common myeloid progenitor, CFU-GEMM. This in turn develops into CFU-Meg, which is the colony forming unit that leads to the production of
megakaryocyte
A megakaryocyte (''mega-'' + '' karyo-'' + '' -cyte'', "large-nucleus cell") is a large bone marrow cell with a lobated nucleus responsible for the production of blood thrombocytes (platelets), which are necessary for normal blood clotting. In ...
s.
Some sources prefer the term "CFU-Mega".
See also
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Thrombopoietin
References
External links
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Blood cells
Colony forming units
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