Dr Cedric Ghevaert

Platelet production from pluripotent stem cells for disease modeling and cellular therapy

Platelets are particles that circulate in the blood and participate in blood clotting in case of injury. However, platelets can also form clots in furred up arteries e.g. in the heart or the brain, leading to heart attack or stroke respectively. Understanding how platelets work, what influences their reactivity and how we can lower their clotting abilities is of great relevance in the treatment and prevention of heart attacks and strokes.

My research group has developed technologies to grow megakaryocytes (the platelet mother cells which usually lives in the bone marrow) in the laboratory from stem cells derived from either normal donors or patients with platelet disorders. This allows us to study in detail how platelets differ in health and disease and how their ability to clot and block blood vessels varies between donors and patients.

This technology also allows us to produce platelets in the laboratory for transfusion in humans. Platelets contain storage granules which they release upon activation. We can modify these platelets so that they can become delivery vehicles, their granules loaded with either clotting factors (to stop haemorrhages after heart surgery) or growth factors (to promote healing after a heart attack).

New! Spotlight on Research - Engineered platelets could meet demand and mend a broken heart