International Journal of Cell Cloning, Vol 8, 267-276, Copyright © 1990 by AlphaMed Press
Molecular regulation of human megakaryocyte development
AM Gewirtz and B Calabretta
Department of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Extracellular regulators of human megakaryocyte development are becoming
better defined. How these regulators function at the subcellular and, in
particular, the molecular levels remains almost completely unknown. The
recent development of molecular micromethodologies such as in situ
hybridization, the polymerase chain reaction, and the use of antisense
oligodeoxynucleotides now make such studies possible in normal cells. We
therefore examined the effect of several recombinant human hematopoietic
growth factors and the maturation agonist phorbol myristate acetate on the
expression of selected growth-regulated and maturation/function-related
genes. We also examined the role of the c-myb proto-oncogene in regulating
megakaryocyte proliferative activity and ploidy development. Our results
demonstrate that growth factors have complex time and concentration effects
on gene expression in morphologically recognizable human megakaryocytes.
They also suggest that a more complete understanding of normal
megakaryocyte development at the molecular level will soon be possible.
