Platelets articles from across Nature Portfolio

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune condition leading to extreme muscle weakness due to autoantibodies targeting the neuromuscular junctions. Here authors assign a critical role for platelets in amplifying the pro-inflammatory response in AChR+ immunotherapy-naïve MG (nMG) patients and thus contributing to disease pathology.

To stop bleeding from an injured vessel, platelets adhere and form a clot despite high shear stress from the flow. Here, the authors show that platelet actin disassembly is a key step that enables a receptor to translocate to membrane lipid rafts, enhancing its adhesive function under shear stress.

Genetic lineage tracing and progenitor and multilineage fate mapping after single hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantations identify two distinct HSC-progenitor trajectories for the replenishment of platelets in mice. These pathways include a slower multilineage pathway and a faster platelet-restricted or biased pathway, initiated by distinct and non-hierarchically related HSCs.

Poscablo and colleagues identify a distinct haematopoietic platelet differentiation pathway that is enriched in ageing mice, which results in platelets that are hyper-reactive compared with canonical platelet populations.

Lipid remodeling, from fatty acid transport and de novo lipid synthesis, is necessary for megakaryocyte differentiation and platelet production. Dietary saturated fatty acids, impaired fatty acid transport and/or dysfunction in lipid biogenesis can contribute to low platelet counts.

Platelet activity and the formation of monocyte–platelet aggregates contribute to the production of IL-1β and the development of cardiovascular lesions in Kawasaki disease.

Structural determination of the ABCC4 transporter is a major first step in providing crucial molecular insights into the transport of platelet substrates into granules, as well as drug transport from platelets. The findings provide a framework for understanding platelet interactions and potential design of specific platelet antagonists.