Wojtowicz Group

Platelets are made in the bone marrow and play a crucial role in forming blood clots, helping to prevent bleeding. Every second our body produces over 1 million platelets, in a process called thrombopoiesis. 

This high regenerative potential is maintained by a small pool of platelet ancestors - megakaryocytes - residing in the bone marrow. In our group, we study the origin of megakaryocytes and characterise their functional heterogeneity.

We apply quantitative lineage tracing methods for kinetic clonal studies, flow cytometry, and single cell omics to uncover molecular mechanisms regulating stem cell commitment to mature blood cell types. 

To achieve this we pursue projects aiming to:

• Explore the molecular mechanisms of a plant-based diet on immune and hematopoietic system function
• Understand molecular mechanisms regulating polyploidization during platelet biogenesis from megakaryocytes, transcriptional regulation, and the functional consequences
• Characterise subpopulations of platelets responding in different ways to stimuli
• Develop new methods for kinetic clonal studies in vivo

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