Imaging Flow Cytometric Analysis of Primary Bone Marrow Megakaryocytes

In light of the indispensible role of platelets in the maintenance of hemostasis, understanding the biology of platelet production from bone marrow megakaryocytes (MKs) may uncover new therapeutic strategies for thrombocytopenia. While there has been much recent interest in optimizing culture systems to facilitate the study of the morphologically unique MK lineage, these systems lack the intricacy of in vivo megakaryopoiesis. Given the limitations of many common techniques for the in vivo study of MKs, in this chapter we describe a method to quantify and analyze primary murine bone marrow megakaryocytes utilizing imaging flow cytometry.