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Megakaryocyte
Make it clearer
A megakaryocyte is a blood cell, and it is enormous compared with the rest. It has one main job, and that is making platelets.
When a megakaryocyte matures, it starts extending projections of its own membrane, and those projections eventually break off. Each fragment that comes loose is a platelet. A huge cell breaks apart into tiny pieces, and each piece goes off to work.
Each platelet lives an average of seven to ten days, and in that time it does its part in hemostasis, the set of mechanisms the body uses to stop bleeding. It sticks to the endothelium, the layer that lines the inside of blood vessels, and it clumps together with other platelets.
In brief
A megakaryocyte is a large blood cell whose main job is to make platelets.
As it matures, it extends projections of its membrane that eventually break off; each fragment that breaks away is a platelet.
A huge cell breaks apart into tiny pieces, and each piece goes off to work.
These platelets live an average of seven to ten days, and during that time they maintain hemostasis by sticking to the endothelium and clumping together.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Platelet, StatPearlsPublished
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