Figure 4.
Effects of splenectomy on platelet kinetics. (A) Platelet counts after splenectomy. WASP(−) (B6, N3 to N4, 9 to 13 weeks of age) and wild-type (WT) littermates underwent splenectomy. Retro-orbital bleeds were performed at the indicated times, and platelet counts were assessed via a HemaVet analyzer. (B) Effect of splenectomy on reticulated platelet counts. WASP(−) (B6, N8, 12–15 weeks of age) underwent splenectomy. Four weeks later reticulated platelet counts were performed, n = 5 (WT), n = 7 [WASP(−)]. (C) Effect of splenectomy on platelet consumption rate. Five weeks after splenectomy, mice from (B) received CMFDA-labeled platelets. WT platelets were injected into WT recipients (n = 3), and WASP(−) platelets into WASP(−) recipients (n = 4). Platelet consumption was followed as in Figure 1. All error bars in the figure are standard errors.
