The plant hormone abscisic acid stimulates megakaryocyte differentiation from human iPSCs in vitro

In the clinic, the supply of platelets is frequently insufficient to meet transfusion needs. To address this issue, many scientists have established the derivation of functional platelets from CD34⁺ cells or human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). However, the yield of platelets is still far below what is required. Here we found that the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) could increase the generation of megakaryocytes (MKs) and platelets from human induced PSCs (hiPSCs). During platelet derivation, ABA treatment promoted the generation of CD34⁺/CD45⁺ HPCs and CD41⁺ MKs on day 14 and then increased CD41⁺/CD42b⁺ MKs and platelets on day 19. Moreover, we found ABA-mediated activation of Akt and ERK1/2 signal pathway through receptors LANCL2 and GRP78 in a PKA-dependent manner on CD34⁺/CD45⁺ cells. In conclusion, our data suggest that ABA treatment can promote CD34⁺/CD45⁺ HPC proliferation and CD41⁺ MK differentiation.