In 1990 an oncogene, v-mpl, was identified from the murine myeloproliferative
leukemia virus that was capable of immortalizing bone marrow
hematopoietic cells from different lineages. In 1992 the human
homologue, named, c-mpl, was cloned. Sequence data revealed that c-mpl encoded a protein that was homologous with members of the hematopoietic receptor
superfamily. Presence of anti-sense oligodeoxynucleotides of c-mpl inhibited megakaryocyte colony formation. == Function ==