[Cultured platelets]

Blood platelets are anucleated elements of the blood. With a diameter of 2 to 3 μm, they are the smallest elements of blood. While their main role is to stop or prevent bleeding, they are also involved in other functions, such as immunity, inflammation or tumour progression. The development of biotechnology and the knowledge acquired about the mechanisms regulating the biogenesis of platelets makes the production of cultured platelets a viable option today. Consequently, this type of product could have its place in meeting a number of transfusion challenges such as alloimmunization or refractory states. However, culture yields remain low and many hurdles still need to be overcome before considering an application in transfusion. This article reviews the rationale for the production of cultured platelets for transfusion and summarizes the main advances in the field while highlighting its limitations.