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Research on link between platelet drop n chemotherapy

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*Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have identified a way that *chemotherapy* causes platelet numbers to drop, answering in the * process* a decade-old question about the formation of platelets, tiny cells that allow blood to clot.*

Platelets are formed by a process called ‘shedding’ where small fragments break off megakaryocytes (large cells normally found in the bone marrow).

Drs Emma Josefsson, Chloé James and Benjamin Kile from the institute’s Molecular Medicine and Cancer and Haematology divisions have been investigating how the survival of platelet- forming megakaryocytes is controlled at a molecular level.

The life-or-death decisions of cells are controlled by the Bcl-2 family of proteins. Some ‘pro-death’ Bcl-2 family proteins cause cells to die, while an opposing ‘pro-survival’ faction prevents cell death, allowing cells to survive.

Ref and Read more: http://www.healthcanal.com/cancers/21146-Discovery-helps-explain-why-chemo-causes-drop-platelet-numbers.html

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