Individual Response

For platelets, small blood cells responsible for clotting, balance is key: too many increases the risk of blood clots, while too few can lead to uncontrolled bleeding. One way of treating inherited thrombocytopenias, genetic disorders characterised by low platelet counts, is to boost megakaryocytes, platelet-producing cells in the bone marrow. Drugs like eltrombopag act as mimics of thrombopoietin, a protein that stimulates megakaryocyte production. Unfortunately, patients suffering from seemingly the same conditions respond differently to these treatments. To investigate this, scientists designed a laboratory model of human bone marrow (pictured), made of silk proteins and megakaryocytes (in red) derived from patient cells. Tests showed that how successfully eltrombopag increased platelet counts in this miniature system strongly correlated with the patients’ actual response to treatment. In the future, such models could help assess which treatments should be most effective for different patients, as well as facilitate further study and drug development.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

Website

• Image from work by Christian A Di Buduo and colleagues
• Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, June 2021