Calreticulin, a multi-faceted protein: thrombotic and bleeding risks in CALR mutation positive essential thrombocythemiaa

Abstract

Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is a clonal disorder of a multipotent hematopoietic progenitor cell. In most patients, a driving mutation of Janus kinase 2 gene, calreticulin gene or myeloproliferative leukemia virus oncogene is detected. The occurrence of thrombotic and/or bleeding complications is very typical in manifestations of ET, with many cases of both occurring in the same patient. The thrombotic or bleeding phenotype can be a consequence of the coexistence of driving and non-driving molecular mutations and polymorphisms, affecting the platelet number and function. This paper discusses the nature of this disease, paying special attention to calreticulin gene function.