Platelets are heterogeneous in the content of membrane glycoprotein (GP)IIb/IIIa complex. To determine whether this heterogeneity is related to changes associated with platelet aging in the circulation, newly released platelets, obtained during recovery from nonimmune-mediated acute experimental thrombocytopenia in baboons, were studied. Monoclonal antibody (MoAb) binding to epitopes expressed ...

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a disease marked by a high incidence of thrombotic episodes and hypersensitivity of the patients' platelets to naturally occurring aggregating agents. Prostaglandin/thromboxane (PG/Tx) formation, adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) secretion, and fibrinogen binding to platelets are all believed to be involved in the mechanisms of platelet aggregation. Therefore,...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by neurotoxic amyloid-ß plaque formation in brain parenchyma and cerebral blood vessels known as cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Besides CAA, AD is strongly related to vascular diseases such as stroke and atherosclerosis. Cerebrovascular dysfunction occurs in AD patients leading to alterations in blood flow that might play an important role in AD pat...

CD40 ligand (CD40L), identified as a costimulatory molecule expressed on T cells, is also expressed and functional on platelets. We investigated the thrombotic and inflammatory contributions of platelet CD40L in atherosclerosis. Although CD40L-deficient (Cd40l(-/-)) platelets exhibited impaired platelet aggregation and thrombus stability, the effects of platelet CD40L on inflammatory processes ...

Platelet transfusion is a very common lifesaving medical procedure. Not widely known is the fact that platelets, unlike other blood cells, rapidly leave the circulation if refrigerated prior to transfusion. This peculiarity requires blood services to store platelets at room temperature, limiting platelet supplies for clinical needs. Here, we describe the mechanism of this clearance system, a lo...

Platelet activation in response to dual stimulation with collagen and thrombin results in the formation of a subpopulation of activated platelets known as coated platelets. Coated platelets are characterized by high surface levels of -granule proteins and phosphatidylserine, which support the assembly of procoagulant protein complexes. Using murine models, we tested the hypothesis that the coll...

Activated platelets form platelet-leukocyte aggregates in the circulation in inflammatory diseases. We investigated whether activated platelets in inflamed skin tissues are phagocytized and removed by neutrophils. To investigate the kinetics of platelets and neutrophils, we immunohistochemically examined the spatiotemporal distribution of them in a murine model of 2,4,6-trinitro-1-chlorobenzene...

Interaction between target cell CD47 and the inhibitory macrophage receptor signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPalpha) counteracts macrophage phagocytosis of CD47-expressing host cells. As platelets also express CD47, we asked whether inhibitory CD47/SIRPalpha signaling regulates normal platelet turnover and clearance of platelets in immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). CD47(-/-) mice had a ...

The effectiveness of different methods of leukoreduction in preventing alloimmune platelet refractoriness was evaluated in a canine model. Platelets from a random donor dog were administered for up to 8 weeks or until platelet refractoriness. Standard (STD; unmodified) platelets were accepted by 14% of recipients (n = 7) compared with 14% for centrifuge leukoreduced (C-LR) platelets (n = 21) an...

Oxidative stress-mediated LDL modification has a key role in initiation of the atherosclerotic process. Platelets produce reactive oxidant species (ROS) upon stimulation with agonist, but it is uncertain whether they are able to oxidatively modify LDL. Human platelets taken from healthy subjects were incubated with LDL, then stimulated with collagen. Compared with unstimulated platelets, collag...