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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2003;23:378.)
© 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.

ATVB In Focus

ATVB In Focus

Platelet Signal Transduction and Interactions With Vascular Cells

Lawrence F. Brass

From the Hematology/Oncology Section, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia.

Correspondence to Dr Lawrence F. Brass, University of Pennsylvania, Room 913, BRB-II, 415 Curie Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail brass@mail.med.upenn.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

With this issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, we begin a new series on the mechanisms of platelet activation and the interactions of platelets with other vascular cells. Because this is a vast topic, we have asked a group of active investigators to describe the work that they and others are doing in selected areas. The emphasis in each case is on topics in which new insights have been obtained recently. The series will include brief reviews on integrin structure and activation, granule exocytosis, reorganization of the platelet cytoskeleton, platelet activation by collagen, and the role of the GP Ib/IX/V complex. Additional reviews will cover adhesive interactions between platelets, leukocytes, and the vessel wall; new ideas about the varied role(s) of the platelet and endothelial cell adhesion molecule PECAM; the contribution of CD40L to platelet plug formation; and role of contact-dependent signaling during the late phases of platelet activation. A variety of viewpoints will be presented, emphasizing in each case areas of research that are still in a state of flux.

See page 388

For the first article in the series, Han-Mou Tsai¹ at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has contributed an excellent summary of the truly breakthrough work that he and other investigators have contributed in the past several years to understanding the pathogenesis of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. TTP is (fortunately) an uncommon disorder in which platelet activation in the arterial circulation leads to obstruction of flow and downstream tissue damage. Unless treated aggressively, TTP is . . . [Full Text of this Article]