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MINI REVIEW article
Front. Hematol.
Sec. Red Cells, Iron and Erythropoiesis
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frhem.2025.1580621
Erythroblast Island Macrophages and Their Surface Markers
Provisionally accepted- 1Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China
- 2Department of Neurology, The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
- 3The First hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China
- 4Neuromedical Technology Innovation Center of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang, China
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Erythroblast Island Macrophages (EIMs) are specialized cells that play a crucial role in erythropoiesis by forming erythroblastic islands (EBIs) and supporting the maturation of erythroblasts. These macrophages express a variety of surface markers that mediate their interactions with erythroblasts and regulate erythropoiesis. Most studies on EMIs rely on flow cytometry analysis and selecting the correct surface markers is of great importance when conducting research. This review provides a brief overview of the surface markers expressed by EIMs, including α5-integrin, CD11b, CD16, CD163, CD169, CD206, CSF1R, EPOR, F4/80, Gr1, MerTK, PPARγ, Timd4, and VCAM1. We also discuss the heterogeneity of EIMs and subsets of EIMs, such as F4/80+VCAM-1+CD169+EPOR+ macrophages.
Keywords: Erythroblast Island Macrophages, surface markers, Erythropoiesis, Erythroblast Island, VCAM-1, CD163, CD169, EPOR
Received: 20 Feb 2025; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fang, Mei and Fang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mei Fang, Department of Neurology, The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.