Landsteiner lecture by Camilla Forsberg | Colorful aging? An aging-specific platelet differentiation path from hematopoietic stem cells

On 24 February 2025, Prof Camilla Forsberg PhD (University California, Santa Cruz, USA) will give a Landsteiner Lecture at Sanquin Research.

Title: 'Colorful aging? An aging-specific platelet differentiation path from hematopoietic stem cells'

Host:  Arthur Svendsen

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Abstract
Platelet dysregulation is drastically increased with advanced age and contributes to making cardiovascular disorders the leading cause of death of elderly humans. We have discovered a direct differentiation pathway from hematopoietic stem cells into platelets that is progressively propagated upon aging. Remarkably, the aging-specific platelet path is decoupled from all other hematopoietic lineages and operates as an additional layer in parallel with canonical platelet production. This results in two molecularly and functionally distinct populations of megakaryocyte progenitors and aging specific production of hyperactive platelets. These findings reveal stem cell-based aging as a mechanism for platelet dysregulation and age-induced thrombosis.

Biography
Camilla’s academic journey started at University Wisconsin-Madison leading to her dissertation “Mechanisms of long-range transcriptional regulation: Histone acetylation and the β-globin locus” having Dr. Emery Bresnick as her supervisor. Following, Camilla was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University working at Irving Weissman’s lab, where she worked on the different molecular mechanisms that regulate hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell potential and cell fate. She then started her independent work as a group leader at the University California, Santa Cruz. Following her tenue, Camilla then became a Full Professor at the same institution. Currently, her work focus on understanding the molecular determinants of hematopoietic stem cell fate decisions so that we can prevent and treat both genetic and acquired disorders of the hematopoietic system, including anemia, autoimmune disease, leukemias and lymphomas.