Latest Megakaryocyte Stories

(Ivanhoe Newswire)-- Yale researchers have discovered how megakaryocytes or giant blood cells that produce wound healing platelets grow 10 or more times bigger than other blood cells and how they may cause a form of leukemia. "A failure of these cells to grow might be an initial trigger for megakaryoblastic leukemias," Diane Krause, senior researcher for the Yale Cancer Center, professor of laboratory medicine, cell biology, and pathology and associate director of the Yale Stem Cell...

Researchers identify cycle: Tumors stimulate platelet production, which strengthens the disease Highly elevated platelet levels fuel tumor growth and reduce the survival of ovarian cancer patients, an international team of researchers led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer center reports in the New England Journal of Medicine. By pinpointing a powerful cause-and-effect relationship at the heart of a clinical observation that dates back more than 100 years, the...

A study of the cells that respond to crises in the blood system has yielded a few surprises, redrawing the ‘map’ of how blood cells are made in the body. The finding, by researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, could have wide-ranging implications for understanding blood diseases such as myeloproliferative disorders (that cause excess production of blood cells) as well as used to develop new ways of controlling how blood and clotting cells are produced. The research...

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Johns Hopkins scientists have launched a pioneering research program to create, for the first time, human platelet cells from stem cells in order to study inherited blood clotting abnormalities ranging from clots that cause heart attacks and stroke to bleeding disorders.One goal of the Hopkins research is to increase understanding of how genes regulate the function of platelets, which are the sticky cells in blood that are important to stop excessive bleeding. The...

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., July 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. ("ACT"; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with CHA Bio & Diostech Co, Ltd. ("CHA Biotech"), a leading South Korea-based biotechnology company, designed to enhance the efforts of the two companies' international joint venture, Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine International (SCRMI). Under the terms of the agreement, SCRMI...

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Platelets are cell fragments that circulate in the blood of mammals.  These big, regularly-shaped cells are chiefly involved in hemostasis, a central factor leading to the formation of blood clots.  If the number of platelets is too low, excessive bleeding can occur (thrombocytopenia).  However, if the number of platelets is too high, blood clots can form (thrombosis). Mortimer Poncz and colleagues, at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, working with mice, have...

DALLAS -- Physicians may be able to safely lower the platelet dosage in transfusions for cancer and bone-marrow transplant patients without risking increased bleeding, according to new research involving UT Southwestern Medical Center and 28 other medical institutions.Reducing platelet transfusions, and lowering the threshold on when to administer transfusions could help address frequent shortages in platelet supplies, said Dr. Victor Aquino, associate professor of pediatrics and an author of...

Over-expression of gene regulator spurs development of leukemia in babies with Down syndromeBetween 5 and 10 percent of babies with Down syndrome develop a transient form of leukemia that usually resolves on its own. However, for reasons that haven't been clear, 20 to 30 percent of these babies progress to a more serious leukemia known as Down syndrome acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (DS-AMKL), which affects the blood progenitor cells that form red blood cells and platelets. Now, researchers...

Discovery challenges understanding of blood cell developmentSALT LAKE CITY "“ University of Utah researchers led an international team of scientists that is the first to report on the previously undescribed ability of platelets to reproduce themselves in the circulation. Their revolutionary findings were published online Jan. 19, 2010, in the journal Blood.Platelets develop from precursor cells found in the bone marrow, a process that is called thrombopoiesis. During the final stages of...

It might be possible to grow human blood platelets in the laboratory for transfusion, according to a new study at The Ohio State University Medical Center.The findings, published in the January 1, 2009 issue of the journal Experimental Hematology, might one day enable blood banks to grow platelets continuously and in quantities that can ease the chronically tight supply of these critical blood components.About 13 million platelet concentrates are collected annually in the United States at a...