doi: 10.1161/01.RES.0000267878.97021.ab
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.
Reviews |
Adhesion Mechanisms in Platelet Function
From The Roon Research Center for Arteriosclerosis and Thrombosis, Division of Blood Cell and Vascular Biology, Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif. Present address for G.L.M.: Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Rozzano, Milan, Italy.
Correspondence to Zaverio M. Ruggeri, MD, The Scripps Research Institute, MEM-175, 10550 N Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA 92037. E-mail ruggeri{at}scripps.edu
This Review is part of a thematic series on Mechanisms, Models, and In Vivo Imaging of Thrombus Formation, which includes the following articles:
Activation of Platelet Function Through G Protein–Coupled Receptors
Platelets As Immune Cells: Bridging Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease
In Vivo Thrombus Formation in Murine Models
Clinical Aspects of Platelet Inhibitors and Thrombus Formation
Adhesion Mechanisms in Platelet Function
Bernhard Nieswandt and Ulrich Walter Guest Editors
Platelet adhesion is an essential function in response to vascular injury and is generally viewed as the first step during which single platelets bind through specific membrane receptors to cellular and extracellular matrix constituents of the vessel wall and tissues. This response initiates thrombus formation that arrests hemorrhage and permits wound healing. Pathological conditions that cause vascular alterations and blood flow disturbances may turn this beneficial process into a disease mechanism that results in arterial occlusion, most frequently in atherosclerotic vessels of the heart and brain. Besides their relevant role in hemostasis and thrombosis, platelet adhesive properties are central to a variety of pathophysiological processes that extend from inflammation to immune-mediated host defense and pathogenic mechanisms as well as cancer metastasis. All of these activities depend on the ability of platelets to circulate in blood as sentinels of vascular integrity, adhere where alterations are detected, and signal the abnormality to other platelets and blood cells. In this respect, therefore, platelet adhesion to vascular wall structures, to one another (aggregation), or to other blood cells, represent different aspects of the same fundamental biological process. Detailed studies by many investigators over the past several years have been aimed to dissect the complexity of these functions, and the results obtained now permit an attempt to integrate all the available information into a picture that highlights the balanced diversity and synergy of distinct platelet adhesive interactions.
Key Words: adhesion molecules • platelets • vascular biology • extracellular matrix • collagen
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