Phorbol esters: useful tools to study megakaryocyte differentiation.

This review attempts 1) to enonciate recent observations made on the effects of phorbol esters on megakaryocyte cell lines, 2) to examine these effects taking into account megakaryocytopoiesis in vivo and 3) to demonstrate that phorbol esters stimulated megakaryocyte cell lines provide a good model to study the mechanisms governing megakaryocyte maturation.