Platelets sequester extracellular DNA, capturing tumor-derived and free fetal DNA
- 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-Böckler
- Christopher D. Gregory
- Bethan Psaila
2025-08-14
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.