Tag Archives: platelets

UCLA Scientists Discover ‘Missing Link’ Between Blood Stem Cells, Immune System

UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the “missing link” between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function.

The research was done using human bone marrow, which contains all the stem cells that produce blood during post-natal life. (more…)

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Blood Discovery

UD researchers discover that JAM-A protein keeps blood clots in check

Cut your toe, and platelets — those disc-shaped cells circulating in your blood — rush to the scene, clumping together to plug the leak.

But when an unwanted clot forms in an artery, and an overaccumulation of platelets blocks blood flow, a heart attack or stroke occurs, too often with fatal results.

Heart disease and stroke rank as humankind’s top killers, according to the World Health Organization. Ulhas Naik, director of the Delaware Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Delaware, hopes to help change that grim statistic for the better. (more…)

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How Megakaryocytes Get so Big — and The Bad Things That Happen When They Don’t

Yale researchers have discovered how megakaryocytes — giant blood cells that produce wound-healing platelets — manage to grow 10 to 15 times larger than other blood cells.

The findings, to be published March 13 in the journal Developmental Cell, also hint at how a malfunction in this process may cause a form of leukemia. (more…)

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Chemists Unlock Potential Target For Drug Development

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A receptor found on blood platelets whose importance as a potential pharmaceutical target has long been questioned may in fact be fruitful in drug testing, according to new research from Michigan State University chemists.

A team led by Dana Spence of MSU’s Department of Chemistry has revealed a way to isolate and test the receptor known as P2X1. By creating a new, simple method to study it after blood is drawn, the team has unlocked a potential new drug target for many diseases that impact red blood cells, such as diabetes, hypertension and cystic fibrosis. (more…)

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