Immune and Inflammatory Properties of Megakaryocytes

Megakaryocytes (MKs), which primarily develop in bone marrow (BM) from hematopoietic stem cells, are critical for platelet production. Beyond their well-established role in thrombopoiesis, MKs have been identified as important for BM niche maintenance, such as by supporting the growth and differenti...

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Main Authors: Shiv Vardan Singh, Audrey Lucerne, Katya Ravid
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Cells
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/14/1053
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author Shiv Vardan Singh
Audrey Lucerne
Katya Ravid
author_facet Shiv Vardan Singh
Audrey Lucerne
Katya Ravid
author_sort Shiv Vardan Singh
collection DOAJ
description Megakaryocytes (MKs), which primarily develop in bone marrow (BM) from hematopoietic stem cells, are critical for platelet production. Beyond their well-established role in thrombopoiesis, MKs have been identified as important for BM niche maintenance, such as by supporting the growth and differentiation of other cell types. Recently, megakaryopoiesis has been reported as yielding divergent subpopulations of MKs, as evidenced by single-cell RNA sequencing of lung, spleen, or BM resident MKs. Interestingly, these subpopulations constitute a significant proportion of “immune MKs” expressing various classical immune markers and capable of phagocytosing pathogens and contributing to antigen presentation. As such, MKs were also found to regulate inflammation, mainly by secreting various cytokines and chemokines to crosstalk with other cell types. The level and functional signature of these “immune MKs” were found to be altered in various pathological conditions, indicative of their purposeful values in health and diseases. In this review, we survey and highlight newly reported functional immune and inflammatory properties of MKs in health and in select pathologies.
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spelling doaj-art-1e3154e7d60e49c0ab1af2d735ddb26a2025-08-20T03:36:17ZengMDPI AGCells2073-44092025-07-011414105310.3390/cells14141053Immune and Inflammatory Properties of MegakaryocytesShiv Vardan Singh0Audrey Lucerne1Katya Ravid2Department of Medicine, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA 02118, USADepartment of Medicine, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA 02118, USADepartment of Medicine, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA 02118, USAMegakaryocytes (MKs), which primarily develop in bone marrow (BM) from hematopoietic stem cells, are critical for platelet production. Beyond their well-established role in thrombopoiesis, MKs have been identified as important for BM niche maintenance, such as by supporting the growth and differentiation of other cell types. Recently, megakaryopoiesis has been reported as yielding divergent subpopulations of MKs, as evidenced by single-cell RNA sequencing of lung, spleen, or BM resident MKs. Interestingly, these subpopulations constitute a significant proportion of “immune MKs” expressing various classical immune markers and capable of phagocytosing pathogens and contributing to antigen presentation. As such, MKs were also found to regulate inflammation, mainly by secreting various cytokines and chemokines to crosstalk with other cell types. The level and functional signature of these “immune MKs” were found to be altered in various pathological conditions, indicative of their purposeful values in health and diseases. In this review, we survey and highlight newly reported functional immune and inflammatory properties of MKs in health and in select pathologies.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/14/1053bone marrowmegakaryocytesplateletsimmune megakaryocyteshematopoiesis
spellingShingle Shiv Vardan Singh
Audrey Lucerne
Katya Ravid
Immune and Inflammatory Properties of Megakaryocytes
Cells
bone marrow
megakaryocytes
platelets
immune megakaryocytes
hematopoiesis
title Immune and Inflammatory Properties of Megakaryocytes
title_full Immune and Inflammatory Properties of Megakaryocytes
title_fullStr Immune and Inflammatory Properties of Megakaryocytes
title_full_unstemmed Immune and Inflammatory Properties of Megakaryocytes
title_short Immune and Inflammatory Properties of Megakaryocytes
title_sort immune and inflammatory properties of megakaryocytes
topic bone marrow
megakaryocytes
platelets
immune megakaryocytes
hematopoiesis
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/14/1053
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