Platelet in Biological News

Lancet study supports new, highly effective treatment for blood disorder

... pediatrician and director of the Program for platelet Disorders at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill ... showed that eltrombopag was effective in raising platelet counts and lowering bleeding in adult subjects ... percent of subjects receiving Promacta achieved platelet counts at or over 50,000 per L of blood, compared ...

Researchers explore new driver of transplant rejection: Platelets

... Morrell and his team noted that increased platelet interactions led to increased and prolonged white ... in reaction to the transplanted tissue sparked platelet activation and white cell recruitment. Studies ... immune system. The newest kid on the block is the platelet and it represents an opportunity to target the ...

A novel target for therapeutics against Staph infection

... at a site that is also responsible for inducing platelet activation and thrombosis (clot inside a blood ... structural differences in how staphylococcal and platelet receptor proteins recognize fibrinogen. By ... not interfere with the interaction of Fg with the platelet integrin, therefore avoiding unwanted side ...

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

... parasite and found that this did, indeed, induce platelet activation. The researchers then infected ... and two others treated with aspirin or Plavix, platelet inhibitors that prevent the release of PF4. ... When researchers started treating mice with platelet inhibitors one day after infecting them, those ...

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

... For patients with hepatitis C, having a low blood platelet count is a frequent complication associated with ... treatment for the disease can further reduce platelet numbers to dangerously low levels, effectively ... drug, eltrombopag, appears to significantly boost platelet counts, opening the door to effective treatment. ...

How cancer spreads by aggregating platelets

... platelets that plays a key role in cancer-induced platelet aggregation. These results could help design new ... these chemicals, called podoplanin, binds to the platelet cells and stimulate their aggregation. Although ... has been known since 1990, how it induces platelet cell aggregation has been a mystery until now. ...

Genetic factors may predict depression in heart disease patients

... in medical literature. The genes include those related to inflammation; platelet aggregation, or clumping; endothelial function involving the cells that ... a hallmark for vascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis and platelet aggregation appear to contribute to depressive symptoms. Specifically, ...

12-month ATLANTA trial data show sustained benefit of Catania Stent

... the body to promote healthy endothelial cell growth without stimulating platelet activation. "We found the CATANIA™ stent to be highly ... but also hides the stent from the body's defenses, which reduces platelet aggregation and the potential for thrombosis." ...

Study points to potential new use for Viagra

... different pools of the PDE5 enzyme, but that only one of them regulates platelet activation. "Understanding how the cell works should allow us to affect ... "The idea is to use a PDE5 inhibitor such as Viagra selectively to inhibit platelet function," she continues. We now know that not all the enzymes in the cell ...

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

... and healthy individuals, the researchers say. ARTICLE #4 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "Platelet Proteome Changes Associated with Diabetes and during platelet Storage for Transfusion" DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ARTICLE: http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/pr800885j CONTACT: David ...

The first DFG research centers to be funded for another four years

... proven itself to be competitive and visible on an international level. Considered particularly interesting and significant is its work on cancer and platelet research, as is the high number of patents that have come from the research, of which 18 were registered in the last four years. In addition to ...

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

... whether current drugs targeting PKC-alpha (e.g., aprinocarsen) are of benefit in the setting of atherothrombosis. TITLE: PKC-alpha regulates platelet granule secretion and thrombus formation in mice AUTHOR CONTACT: Alastair W. Poole University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom. Phone: ...

NIAID announces 25 new awards to develop radiation countermeasures

... to be up to $4 million over 18 months, via the Project BioShield Authority rapid award program, to explore methods or treatments to enhance blood platelet regeneration after radiation exposure. The investigators awarded these grants are as follows: Amelia M. Bartholomew, M.D., University of ...

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

... to one another or to blood vessel walls. The researchers found these enzymes in their laboratory cultures and showed that blocking them restored platelet function when the cells were infused into injured mice. The scientists now plan to test whether the same approach will work in humans. ...

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

... chronic liver disease, and bleeding is one of its most severe problems, leading often to death. Currently no treatment is used to modify the altered platelet activity observed in this pathology. Ultra-low-dose aspirin has a prothrombotic effect that is the opposite of that observed with usual doses for ...

Vitamin E trials 'fatally flawed'

... that vitamin E can reduce oxidative stress, inhibit formation of atherosclerotic lesions, slow aortic thickening, lower inflammation, and reduce platelet adhesion. Some human studies using lower levels of vitamin E supplements, such as 100 to 400 I.U. a day, have shown benefits in reducing ...

Ginkgo SRMs: Tools for product analysis/quality

... by rigorous clinical trials. Ginkgo biloba contains a family of chemical constituents known as ginkgolides which have been associated with reduced platelet aggregation. The National Institute of Healths (NIH) National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) notes promising results in a ...

UCSD researchers create roadmap to integrin activation

... regulates activation of the body's most abundant platelet receptor, an integrin called glycoprotein (GP) ... the blood vessel. A signal from inside the platelet to the outside tells the GPIIb-IIIa integrin on ... limited understanding of the pathways leading to platelet integrin activation, though we have developed a ...

MiRNA fingerprint identified in platelet formation

... set of miRNA genes are turned off in normal platelet development, but turned on in certain ... examined miRNA activity in the earliest phases of platelet development. The researchers had previously ... was known, however, about miRNA functionality in platelet formation. Platelets are created from stem ...

Cell wall of pneumonia bacteria can cause brain and heart damage

... (inner surface of the blood vessel) by hooking onto a protein called platelet activating factor receptor (PAFr). platelet activating factor (PAF) is an immune system signaling molecule that ...

High-dose anticlotting drug cuts heart attack, death risk in half

... from thrombotic complications during and shortly after PCI, while minimizing bleeding and costs." Clopidogrel interferes with the action of platelet cells, which stimulate the formation of blood clots. Interventional cardiologists give patients a loading dose of this medication before PCI to ...

Light wine intake is associated with longer life expectancy in men

... intake could be due to an increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or to a reduction in blood clotting, due to an inhibition of platelet aggregation," Streppel said. Furthermore, red wine consumption may have an additional health benefit because the polyphenolic compounds contained ...

Researchers seek to design first treatment for neuroAIDS

... now in human trials. These include antioxidant medications, calcium channel antagonists, NMDA antagonists like the Alzheimer's drug Memantine, platelet activating factor (PAF) inhibitors, and in the case of the new grant, drugs that inhibit glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3b) and mixed lineage ...

MIT material stops bleeding in seconds

... that the material does not work by inducing blood clotting. Clotting generally takes at least 90 seconds to start, and the researchers found no platelet aggregation, a telltale sign of clotting. Other MIT researchers who are co-authors on the paper are Gerald Schneider, professor of brain and ...

Green tea and the 'Asian Paradox'

... EGCG may prevent LDL oxidation, which has been shown to play a key role in the pathophysiology of arteriosclerosis. EGCG also reduces the amount of platelet aggregation, regulates lipids, and promotes proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells, which are all factors in reducing cardiovascular ...

Thin tough skin, slow-growing gills protect larval Antarctic fish

... Five years of data, collected from 2000 to 2004, were analyzed. While each species spawned at different depths, all larvae swam upward into platelet ice, located just below several meters of surface ice, when they hatched, seeking perhaps a safe area to hide from predators, Cziko said. The ...

Scientists closer to new cancer detection method

... act as molecular beacons, corresponding and readily binding to a sought-after substance such as cancer protein. In this case, the target was platelet derived growth factor, or PDGF, a protein that regulates cell growth and division. Elevated PDGF levels have been linked to different forms of ...

UNC scientists discover new role for protein as fundamental inhibitor of cell movement

... cellular movement, or migration. The protein, CIB1, or calcium and integrin-binding protein 1, was originally discovered at UNC in 1997 as a blood platelet protein that may play a role in clotting. Cell migration belongs to the most rudimentary of cellular functions that allow processes such as fetal ...

Researchers report new pro-inflammatory role for anti-inflammatory enzyme

... "eNOS is found almost exclusively in the vascular endothelium and the NO that it synthesizes plays a key role in regulation of blood pressure, platelet aggregation, the reactivity of immune cells and growth of vascular smooth muscle cells," explains Dr. Hobbs. "iNOS is not expressed under normal ...

Polymers with copper show promise for implanted sensors

... muscle cells and increases 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 ...