HSC population in the embryonic brain can give rise to MCs. (a–h) Brain sections at E10.5 (a–c), E11.5 (d–f), and E12.5 (g and h) from wild-type mice (a, b, d, e, g, and h), and AML1 mutant mice (c and f) were dual stained with anti–c-Kit mAb (red) and anti-CD31 mAb (dark blue; a, d, and g) or with anti-SMA mAb (brown) and anti-CD31 (dark blue; b, c, e, f, and h). Inset (e and h) shows high power view indicated by box. Bar in panel a, 50 μm. (i) FACS analysis of HSC/HPC population existing in the mouse brain at E12.5. The number in the top-right quadrant indicates the percentage of c-Kit+ CD45+ cells among Lin− cells. The data is representative of three independent experiments. (j–l) Phenotype of cultured HSC/HPC populations in vitro. The HSC/HPC population indicated by the box in panel i was cultured on fibronectin-coated culture plates for 14 d and stained with anti-CD31 (dark blue; j), anti-SMA mAb (brown; k and l), anti–PECAM-1 mAb (dark blue; k), or anti–Flk-1 mAb (dark blue; l). Arrows (k and l) indicate cells expressing CD31 or Flk-1, respectively. Bar in panel j, 30 μm.