RBC Maturation
This hormone is produced primarily by the kidneys to stimulate RBC production.
What is erythropoietin (EPO)?
The process of blood cell production, differentiation, and development.
What is hematopoiesis?
Younger cells tend to stain more _____ in the cytoplasm; older cells more _____/neutral.
What is blue; pink?
The mature RBC shape that increases surface area-to-volume ratio.
What is biconcave disc?
Name the three granulocytes.
What are neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils?
First recognizable RBC precursor: 12–19 µm, fine chromatin, 0–2 nucleoli, very basophilic cytoplasm.
What is a rubriblast (pronormoblast)?
Adults primarily make blood cells in this location.
What is bone marrow?
In granulocytes, chromatin typically changes from _____ to _____ as the cell matures.
What is fine to highly clumped?
Mature RBCs lack these two things to maximize hemoglobin space.
What are a nucleus and organelles?
Earliest recognizable neutrophil precursor in the myelocytic series.
What is a myeloblast?
The “gray-blue” stage: hemoglobin is building, so cytoplasm becomes mixed blue + pink (polychromasia). The nucleus is smaller, chromatin is coarse/clumped, and mitosis may still occur earlier in this zone.
What is the Rubricyte (Polychromatophilic Normoblast)
This is the most common WBC cell in a normal adult differential.
What is a neutrophil?
Mature granulocytes have nuclei that are _____, connected by thin filaments.
What are segmented/multilobed?
Average RBC lifespan in circulation.
What is ~120 days?
This neutrophil stage follows the myeloblast and is known for developing primary (azurophilic) granules.
What is a promyelocyte?
This stage has cytoplasm that looks mostly pink/salmon because hemoglobin is near-complete. The nucleus is very small, dense, and pyknotic (“ink-dot”), and the cell is getting ready to extrude the nucleus.
What is the Metarubricyte (Orthochromatophilic Normoblast / NRBC)?
When liver/spleen resume blood cell production due to increased need, it’s called this.
What is extramedullary hematopoiesis?
Monocytes often have this classic nuclear shape.
What is kidney bean / folded / horseshoe-shaped?
Name 3 key substances needed for normal erythrocyte/hemoglobin production.
What are iron, amino acids, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6 (any three)?
This granulocyte has a kidney-shaped nucleus that is not yet segmented, specific granules are present, and it’s typically the last stage found mainly in the bone marrow before entering the “band” form.
What is a Metamyelocyte?
A non-nucleated RBC just released from marrow that still contains residual ribosomal RNA—it may look slightly bluish on a Wright stain (polychromasia) and is best confirmed with a supravital stain (reticulum).
What is a Reticulocyte?
This type of stem cell can self-renew and can differentiate into all blood cell lines (myeloid and lymphoid).
What is a pluripotent (hematopoietic) stem cell?
Slender, needle-like cytoplasmic structures seen in blasts, most associated with myeloid differentiation.
What are Auer rods?
In megaloblastic anemia, _____ maturation lags behind _____ maturation due to impaired DNA synthesis (often tied to B12 deficiency).
What is nuclear; cytoplasmic?
This neutrophil stage has a U-shaped/curved nucleus of fairly uniform thickness with no distinct lobes, cytoplasm that looks like a mature neutrophil, and it’s seen when the marrow is responding to infection/inflammation, if there's an increase in blood slide.
What is a Band neutrophil?