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S Ebbe, D Carpenter and T Yee
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Megakaryocytopoiesis was evaluated in W/Wv mice and their normal +/+
littermates to analyze the mechanisms by which normal platelet production
is maintained in W/Wv mice even though numbers of megakaryocytes are low.
Relative sizes of megakaryocytes, and their nuclei and cytoplasm, were
measured microscopically in bone marrow smears, and the ploidy of the same
cells was measured by two-wavelength microspectrophotometry. Maturation
rate of megakaryocytes was estimated after they were labeled with tritiated
thymidine. W/Wv megakaryocytes were macrocytic: average cell size was
increased in each ploidy group. The increase in cytoplasmic area exceeded
that of the nucleus. Further analysis of the predominant 16N ploidy group
revealed that the increase in average cell size was due to depletion of
cells of small size. Megakaryocytes matured more rapidly than normal in
W/Wv mice. These results showed that megakaryocyte size and ploidy can be
regulated separately. They suggest that alterations in cell growth and
maturation may be mechanisms by which the organism can compensate for a
deficiency in numbers of megakaryocytes, but they do not define the
mechanism by which the deficiency may be sensed or by which the
compensatory changes may be mediated. This is a US government work. There
are no restrictions on its use.
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