American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- May 13, 2009

... Research Amid emerging concerns that blood platelets donated for transfusion by individuals with Type ... and analysis of a group of abnormal proteins in platelets from diabetic donors. The study could lead to ... receive potentially lifesaving transfusions of platelets each year to treat bleeding from trauma and for a ...

Children's National research links platelets to sepsis-related organ failure

... the first time doctors have looked at and linked platelets to poor outcomes from this often fatal infection. ... featured a unique attribute: the genes within platelets were triggered to produce a protein known as ... response to cancer and viruses. During sepsis, platelets collect within major organs including the spleen, ...

Researchers explore new driver of transplant rejection: Platelets

... well as others', show a surprising interplay of platelets and the immune system, so it's time for the transplant world at large to have platelets on its radar." A self-described "platelet guy" ... of transplant to write a comprehensive review of platelets and transplant biology, published in the January ...

Johns Hopkins scientists discover what drives the development of a fatal form of malaria

... platelets those tiny, unassuming cells that cause blood to ... infected with the malaria parasite, they activate platelets to secrete the PF4 protein, which triggers the ... parasite: one set treated so that it lacked platelets altogether and two others treated with aspirin or ...

Likely cause of postpartum blues and depression identified

... commonly associated with depression. But platelets that enable blood clotting also secrete serotonin which prompts platelets to aggregate and the placenta to want to get rid ... blood vessel would trigger release of serotonin, platelets would aggregate, vessels constrict and the fetus ...

Researchers tap into a new and potentially better source of platelets for transfusion

... To replace these critical cells, doctors filter platelets from donated blood, but this approach can ... problems, scientists have been trying to generate platelets from embryonic stem cell lines. But stem cells ... platelets. Another problem with making platelets from stem cells is that the ...

How cancer spreads by aggregating platelets

... cells spread by surrounding themselves with platelets the blood cells needed for blood clotting. ... for the first time a protein on the surface of platelets that plays a key role in cancer-induced platelet ... cells release chemicals that make neighboring platelets aggregate and surround the cancer cells, helping ...

American Chemical Society's weekly PressPac -- May 27, 2009

... development and lab testing of silver nanoparticles that seem to keep platelets in an inactive state. Low levels of the nanosilver, injected into mice, reduced the ability of platelets to clump together by as much as 40 percent with no apparent harmful side ...

Study points to potential new use for Viagra

... permanently implanted in their arteries to maintain blood flow. Their platelets sometimes bind to the stent and, if enough platelets accumulate to form a blockage, this may cause a sudden, massive heart ...

Genetic factors may predict depression in heart disease patients

... to have a significant association. vWF is a protein produced by the endothelium that is critical to the initial stages of blood clotting by helping platelets stick to damaged blood vessels. When elevated in concentration, VWF is a strong predictor of endothelial dysfunction and a risk factor for ...

Lancet study supports new, highly effective treatment for blood disorder

... individuals in the U.S. diagnosed with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), an autoimmune disease that dramatically reduces the number of platelets in their blood -- causing bruises, nosebleeds and, rarely, life-threatening brain hemorrhages. Promacta (eltrombopag) was granted accelerated ...

JCI online early table of contents: Jan. 19, 2009

... vessel supplying the heart at the site of a ruptured or eroded atherosclerotic plaque (the entity that causes hardening or furring of the arteries). platelets have a key role in the development of these blood clots, and the development of antithrombotic drugs that do not impair other functions of platelets, ...

How do bacteria swim? Brown physicists explain

... understand how bacteria ultimately arrive at a surface and adhere to it. The applications range from better understanding the flow and adhesion of platelets in the bloodstream to greater insights into how contaminants are captured as they percolate through the soil. "As it turns out, swimming is an ...

Eltrombopag effective for hepatitis C patients with low blood-platelet counts

... counts and decreased bleeding in patients with Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), an autoimmune disease that dramatically reduces the number of platelets in their blood. (Dr. Bussel is an Advisory Board Member for GlaxoSmithKline; has received research grant support, lecture fees, and consulting fees ...

Ireland Cancer Center researchers advance stem cell gene therapy

... Dr. Shigemi Matsuyama and colleagues presented a novel way of treating chemotherapy -induced thrombocytopenia (decrease in number of platelets in the blood) using Bax Inhibiting Peptides to rescue the damaged cells. Dr. Keith McCrae and colleagues presented that 2 glycoprotein is a ...

Protein controls blood vessel formation, offers new drug target

... Institutes of Health. Parises lab first discovered the protein, called CIB1 in 1997. It was originally found in blood platelets. CIB1 keeps blood platelets from sticking together, acting as a natural anti-coagulant to prevent clots that might lead to heart attacks or strokes. But further research showed ...

Ultra-low-dose aspirin might decrease bleeding severity in portal hypertension

... widely used antithrombotic agent. Previous research in rats has shown that the prothrombotic properties of ultra-low-dose aspirin are not mediated by platelets but by endothelial cells, and as such they have the potential of reversing the platelet-endothelial cell interaction alterations observed in portal ...

UCSD researchers create roadmap to integrin activation

... the cells' surface receptors ?changes that enable platelets to bind to the wall of blood vessels and to one ... may contribute to efforts to develop artificial platelets or leukocytes that could be used in patients with ... outside of a cell at plasma membrane sites. platelets stop the body's bleeding by sticking to one ...

Polymer aids in blood clotting, pointing way to new treatment

... (Oct. 22, 2004) that dense granules in human platelets contain polyphosphate. In the early 1990s, ... we found that polyphosphate was released from platelets upon stimulation, I immediately thought about a ... presence of polyphosphate may help explain how platelets accelerate the process of blood clotting. ...

New biologic treatment for tennis elbow may replace surgery for chronic sufferers

... issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine. Specially-prepared platelets taken from the patient which are then re-injected into the tendon of the ... a half-teaspoon (2 to 3 mL) of this material ?over 500% richer in platelets than whole blood ?was then injected into the tendon of the sore elbow. ...

Protein That Promotes Survival Of Stem Cells Might Be Key To Poor Leukemia Prognosis

... cells (HSC) give rise to all of the body's red and white blood cells and platelets has now been discovered to depend in large part on a single protein called ... for maintaining blood cells throughout life as red and white cells and platelets die and must be replaced. HSCs are also needed to rebuild the blood system ...

Anthrax paralyzes immune cells with lethal toxin, UF research shows

... that regulates how actin assembles," said Southwick, who believes his findings may also explain how anthrax paralyzes other types of cells, like the platelets that normally help blood clot. "We know that patients with anthrax bleed," Southwick said, adding that victims of inhalational anthrax often ...

Iowa State researchers improving plastics made from corn and soy proteins

... forces, said Michael Kessler, an Iowa State assistant professor of materials science and engineering who's also working on the project. Those clay platelets need to be separated and mixed evenly throughout the plastic to be much good as a reinforcing agent. The researchers are turning to high-powered ...

Mutation in blood stem cells provides clues to cancer development

... we can fight the disease without inhibiting normal stem cell differentiation. These patients could then still produce normal red blood cells, normal platelets and white blood cells," said Catriona H.M. Jamieson, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and Director for Stem Cell Research at UCSD's ...

MiRNA fingerprint identified in platelet formation

... (miRNAs) that appear to play a significant role in the development of platelets ?blood cells critical to the body's ability to form clots following an ... was known, however, about miRNA functionality in platelet formation. platelets are created from stem cells in the bone marrow. They evolve through a ...

Polymers with copper show promise for implanted sensors

... blood flow. It also diffuses into the lumen of the blood vessel, where it plays another important role: it inhibits platelet function and prevents platelets from sticking to the surface of the blood vessels." Over the years, Meyerhoff and collaborators have developed nitric oxide-releasing polymers, ...