Thrombocytopenia is the underlying cause of a number of major clinical conditions and genetic disorders worldwide. While therapeutic agents that bind and stimulate the thrombopoietin receptor are currently available, the development of drugs that directly stimulate megakaryocytes to generate platelets has lagged behind. To improve the management of thrombocytopenia, we will need to define the cell biological pathways that drive the production of platelets from megakaryocytes. This review integrates the latest research of platelet biogenesis and focuses on the molecular pathways that power and regulate proplatelet production.
aTranslational Medicine Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
cVascular Biology Program, Department of Surgery, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA
Address correspondence to Joseph E. Italiano, PhD, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 1 Blackfan Cir, Karp 6, Boston, MA 02115
This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health Grant No. HL68130 (J.E.I.). J.E.I. is an American Society of Hematology Junior Faculty Scholar.
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