Mathematical modeling of erythropoiesis in vivo with multiple erythroblastic islands

Erythropoiesis is a process of red blood cell production, which occurs mainly in the bone marrow. It is organized as a large number of small units called erythroblastic islands, each of them containing several dozens of cells. We show that the system of islands is unstable and that stable and constant production of erythrocytes cannot be achieved without a local control mechanism possibly provided by macrophages.