鉴于血小板内化病原体衍生核酸的能力，该课题组人员假设血小板也可能清除内源性cfDNA。课题组人员发现，尽管缺乏细胞核，血小板却包含了一系列的DNA片段，这些DNA片段映射了整个核基因组。课题组在母体血小板中检测胎儿DNA，在癌前病变和癌性病变患者的血小板中检测癌源DNA。由于目前的液体活检方法使用血小板耗尽的血浆，因此遗漏了血小板中包含的重要遗传信息。这项研究确立了血小板的生理作用，这是以前没有被强调过的，具有广泛的翻译相关性。
研究人员表示，血小板是对止血和免疫至关重要的无核血细胞。在细胞死亡和异常有丝分裂期间，有核细胞释放DNA，导致血浆中“无细胞”DNA （cfDNA）。过量的cfDNA对它们有害。
附：英文原文
Title: Platelets sequester extracellular DNA, capturing tumor-derived and free fetal DNA
Author: Lauren Murphy, Jeanne Inchauspé, Giampiero Valenzano, Pamela Holland, Nikolaos Sousos, Hayley L. Belnoue-Davis, Rong Li, Natalie J. Jooss, Camelia Benlabiod, Eleanor Murphy, Zohar Etzioni, Emelie Shepherd, Lucy Denly, Sujata Biswas, Lin Chen, Jennifer O’Sullivan, Michael P. Rimmer, Abdullah O. Khan, Christina Simoglou Karali, Nadia Nasreddin, Ian S. Hitchcock, Milka Koupenova, Skirmantas Kriaucionis, Jim R. Hughes, Eric O’Neill, Manu Vatish, Paul Rees, Simon Leedham, Michael Desborough, Adam J. Mead, Benjamin Schuster-Bckler, Christopher D. Gregory, Bethan Psaila
Issue&Volume: 2025-08-14
Abstract: Platelets are anucleate blood cells vital for hemostasis and immunity. During cell death and aberrant mitosis, nucleated cells release DNA, resulting in “cell-free” DNA in plasma (cfDNA). An excess of cfDNA is deleterious. Given their ability to internalize pathogen-derived nucleic acids, we hypothesized that platelets may also clear endogenous cfDNA. We found that, despite lacking a nucleus, platelets contained a repertoire of DNA fragments mapping across the nuclear genome. We detected fetal DNA in maternal platelets and cancer-derived DNA in platelets from patients with premalignant and cancerous lesions. As current liquid biopsy approaches utilize platelet-depleted plasma, important genetic information contained within platelets is being missed. This study establishes a physiological role for platelets that has not previously been highlighted, with broad translational relevance.
DOI: adp3971
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp3971