burst-forming unit
burst-forming unit
A small, partially differentiated lymphocyte-like progenitor cell which arises from a pluripotent stem cell, the colony-forming unit for granulocytes(CFU-GEMM), RBCs, megakaryocytes and monocytes in the bone marrow, giving rise to either RBCs (BFU-E) or megakaryocytes (BFU-Meg); these in turn give rise to colony-forming units. The so-called bipolar BFUs have either erythroid or megakaryocytic differentiation.Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
burst-forming-unit
, burst-forming unit,BFU
A stem cell that produces red blood cell progeny and not blood cells of other lineages.
Medical Dictionary, © 2009 Farlex and Partners