Fate of senescent megakaryocytes in the bone marrow

JM Radley, CJ Haller - British Journal of Haematology, 1983 - Wiley Online Library
JM Radley, CJ Haller
British Journal of Haematology, 1983Wiley Online Library
Degenerating senescent megakaryocytes have been identified in mouse bone marrow by
light and electron microscopy. The ultrastructural changes which occur as degeneration
proceeds are characteristic of death by apoptosis, although most cells appear to round up
rather than undergo fragmentation. A hitherto unreported finding in degenerating cells was
the presence of bundles of approximately 7 nm diameter parallel filaments in nuclei and
membrane‐bound nuclear fragments. Structurally, they resembled bundles of filaments …
Summary. Degenerating senescent megakaryocytes have been identified in mouse bone marrow by light and electron microscopy. The ultrastructural changes which occur as degeneration proceeds are characteristic of death by apoptosis, although most cells appear to round up rather than undergo fragmentation. A hitherto unreported finding in degenerating cells was the presence of bundles of approximately 7 nm diameter parallel filaments in nuclei and membrane‐bound nuclear fragments. Structurally, they resembled bundles of filaments induced in nuclei with dimethyl sulphoxide and identified as actin. Often a bundle appeared to terminate at the inner membrane. In the cytoplasm the presence of microtubules and centrioles indicates that not all the latter organelles are lost by the megakaryocyte during platelet release. Degenerating senescent megakaryocytes are rare in the marrow of normal mice but increase in frequency during 5‐fluorouracil stimulated thrombocytosis. The dying cells are eventually phagocytosed by macrophages, a process that can occur extravascularly, showing that entry of senescent megakaryocytes into the circulation is not necessary for their disposal.
Wiley Online Library