Erythroblast

the first stage in erythropoietic lineage differentiation that can be distinguished from precursor pluripotent cells but still contains a cell nucleus

Description
In normal erythrocyte maturation, four developmental stages of erythroblasts can be recognized: 1) pronormoblast, 2) basophilic normoblast, 3) polychromatic normoblast, and 4) orthochromatic normoblast. In normal situations, very low numbers of erythroblasts are found in the peripheral blood. During pregnancy, fetal erythroblasts that pass into the maternal circulation offer an attractive tool for fetal DNA testing when antenatal diagnosis of genetic disorders is needed.