Thrombocytopenia is a major clinical problem that is notoriously difficult to manage, owing,
in large part, to our lack of understanding of the processes regulating the development of
megakaryocytes (MKs). MKs are the hematopoietic cells responsible for producing platelets,
making them essential for normal hemostasis. According to the classical model of
hematopoiesis, each mature MK is derived from a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) that has
differentiated sequentially through a series of progenitor cells. To date, the only known …