It was proposed that two sequential sources of intraembryonic multipotent progenitors ensure blood cell production from late gestation into adulthood, with only the latter producing self-renewing hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). How these two populations differ and how they impact the establishment of the postnatal immune system, remains poorly understood. Using complementary lineage tracing models, we showed that the first emerging embryonic multipotent progenitors (eMPP) are responsible for late gestation hematopoiesis. They are distinct from HSC that do not significantly contribute to embryonic mature blood cells. eMPP are the predominant source of embryonic lymphocytes and lymphoid tissue inducer cells, some of which persist for life. Between E12.5 and E16.5 eMPP rapidly differentiate, whereas HSC expand 20fold. Altogether, these results support the notion that eMPP establish the embryonic adaptive immune system and shape the lymphoid organs where later adaptive immune responses occur, while HSC expand to sustain blood cell production throughout life.

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