Platelets are anucleated cells derived from megakaryocytes in the bone marrow. This process is majorly driven by thrombopoietin (TPO), a hormone produced by liver. although TPO has been explored as potential treatment to enhance platelet production in patients with thrombocytopenia, its efficacy is inconsistent, often requiring prolonged treatment. Consequently, there exists an unmet need to identify novel targets for platelet biogenesis, necessitating a deeper understanding of thrombopoiesis.

A number of our research projects seek to understand how ribosomal biogenesis controls thrombopoiesis.  We employ cutting-edge techniques, such as single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and bone marrow transplantations, to dissect molecular mechanisms underpinning platelet production. We employ various mouse models of thrombocytopenia to test novel therapeutics capacity to enhance thrombopoiesis.

Figure: Mouse megakaryocytes and bone marrow cells were labelled with flourescent antibodies against GPIb-IX platelet specific receptor protein (red), Phalloidin against actin protein (Green) and DAPI for nuclear staining (Blue). Imaging was done using confocal microscope at 63X resolution. Scale added 25 µm.