A platelet transcriptome revolution

Abstract

Although platelets are anucleate, they have long been known to contain genomic material, specifically RNA, but the question remains; why should anyone care about an exquisitely detailed profile of RNA from a cell without a nucleus? For decades, the general observation of platelet RNA and the characterization of reticulated platelets have been used to estimate the rate of thrombopoiesis; however, the actual transcripts represented by this RNA were of little interest with the assumption that the RNA was merely a remnant from the precursor megakaryocyte.