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Platelets are essential for the processes of hemostasis and thrombosis formation within the human body. For diseases that are predominantly characterized by immune thrombocytopenia, the administration of platelet suspensions is considered a superior treatment method. As platelets are exclusively derived from voluntary blood donation, a critical shortage of platelets has emerged as a global concern. The mass production of platelets in vitro via laboratory techniques is crucial to meet the present and future demands for transfusions. It has been verified by previous research that platelets can be generated in vitro by reprogramming adherent cells. The difficulty in obtaining and culturing a large quantity of these cells in vitro presents a significant barrier to both the progression of research and the scaling of experimental applications. Consequently, the objective of this study is to investigate the potential of reprogramming B cells, which are also derived from lymphoid stem cells, to produce megakaryocytes and subsequently platelets. B cells, being suspension cells, offer several advantages over adherent cells, including ease of acquisition, low cost, and rapid proliferation. Therefore, in the context of this experiment, overexpression of megakaryocyte differentiation-related transcription factors—GATA1, FLI1, AML1, and NFE2—was induced in primary mouse B cells. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated the enhanced expression of megakaryocyte-specific surface markers CD41 and CD42. Additionally, microscopic examination revealed significant changes in cell morphology, characterized by the appearance of larger cells with features resembling lobulated nuclei and proplatelets. The findings from these experiments preliminarily validate the feasibility of reprogramming suspension cells to megakaryocyte-like cells, thereby offering a novel strategy for the selection of initial cell populations suitable for large-scale in vitro platelet production via cellular reprogramming.
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