WEHI Wednesday Seminar hosted by Dr Samir Taoudi
 

Antoine Terreaux
PhD Student – Taoudi Laboratory
Epigenetics & Development division – Healthy Development & Ageing Theme, WEHI 
(this is a PhD Completion seminar)

Defining the mechanics driving platelet formation via megakaryocyte membrane budding

 

Davis Auditorium

Join via SLIDO enter code #WEHIWednesday

Including Q&A session
 

Although we have known for over a century that megakaryocytes produce platelets  in the bone marrow, the cellular mechanisms that drive in vivo platelet production and release remain incompletely understood. The currently accepted model proposes that proplatelets (long beaded strands of platelet precursors) fragment into individual platelets in the peripheral circulation. However, the Taoudi laboratory recently published a study which identified membrane budding as a major pathway of in vivo platelet production, involving the formation and release of platelets without the contribution of a proplatelet intermediary.

My PhD project aimed to explore this mechanism further by examining the involvement of microtubules and the actin cytoskeleton at the plasma membrane during bud formation. Using immunofluorescence microscopy of the adult mouse bone marrow, I first and foremost validated the relevance of budding to platelet production with a robust analysis of bud contents and morphology. Next, I investigated the involvement of key cytoskeletal proteins at the different stages of budding at a healthy steady-state, and identified a pathway whereby components of the cytoskeleton become sequentially involved at each step. Finally, I was able to gain a more rigorous understanding of the organisation of this pathway by comparing it with a diseased state lacking a key cytoskeletal protein. With these new insights, we hope to guide fresh developments in the field of ex vivo platelet manufacture, having major impacts on platelet transfusions, personalised medicine and beyond.

All welcome!