News tagged with platelets
Evolution provides clue to blood clotting
A simple cut to the skin unleashes a complex cascade of chemistry to stem the flow of blood. Now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have used evolutionary clues to reveal ...
Jul 20, 2011 |
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Researchers develop synthetic platelets
Synthetic platelets have been developed by UC Santa Barbara researchers, in collaboration with researchers at Scripps Research Institute and Sanford-Burnham Institute in La Jolla, Calif. Their findings are ...
May 30, 2012 |
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Bioengineers create simulator to test blood platelets in virtual heart attacks
A team of bioengineers from the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Medicine and Engineering have trained a computer neural network model to accurately predict how blood platelets would respond to complex conditions ...
Jun 20, 2010 |
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Groundbreaking research shows platelets can reproduce in circulation
University of Utah researchers led an international team of scientists that is the first to report on the previously undescribed ability of platelets to reproduce themselves in the circulation. Their revolutionary findings ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Jan 26, 2010 |
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Researchers explore new driver of transplant rejection: Platelets
Platelets, tiny and relatively uncharted tenants of the bloodstream known mostly for their role in blood clotting, turn out to also rally sustained immune system inflammatory responses that play a critical role in organ transplant ...
Feb 17, 2009 |
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Green tea component may help preserve stored platelets, tissues
In two separate studies, a major component in green tea, epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), has been found to help prolong the preservation of both stored blood platelets and cryopreserved skin tissues.
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Sep 14, 2009 |
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New research links platelets to sepsis-related organ failure
Scientists at Children's National Medical Center have identified a previously unknown contributor to organ failure in patients suffering from sepsis: platelets.
Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Mar 10, 2009 |
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Synthetic Platelets Cut Clotting Time
Every second counts when treating a traumatic injury. While our bodies are built to quickly stem bleeding from everyday nicks and cuts, major trauma -- whether sustained on the battlefield or in a car accident ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Apr 01, 2010 |
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A fateful pause: Genetic mechanism once thought rare may allow rapid cell production
We take our blood for granted, but its creation requires a complicated series of steps, starting with the formation of blood stem cells during early embryonic development, followed by progressive differentiation into the ...
Jul 08, 2010 |
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Snake venom studies yield insights for development of therapies for heart disease and cancer
Researchers seeking to learn more about stroke by studying how the body responds to toxins in snake venom are this week releasing new findings that they hope will aid in the development of therapies for heart disease and, ...
Jul 29, 2010 |
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Researchers take the inside route to halt bleeding
Blood loss is a major cause of death from roadside bombs to freeway crashes. Traumatic injury, the leading cause of death for people age 4 to 44, often overwhelms the body's natural blood-clotting process.
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Dec 16, 2009 |
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Platelet
Platelets, or thrombocytes (from Greek θρόμβος, "clot" and κύτος, "cell"), are small, irregularly shaped clear cell fragments (i.e. cells that do not have a nucleus containing DNA), 2–3 µm in diameter, which are derived from fragmentation of precursor megakaryocytes. The average lifespan of a platelet is normally just 5 to 9 days. Platelets are a natural source of growth factors. They circulate in the blood of mammals and are involved in hemostasis, leading to the formation of blood clots.
If the number of platelets is too low, excessive bleeding can occur. However, if the number of platelets is too high, blood clots can form (thrombosis), which may obstruct blood vessels and result in such events as a stroke, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism or the blockage of blood vessels to other parts of the body, such as the extremities of the arms or legs. An abnormality or disease of the platelets is called a thrombocytopathy, which could be either a low number of platelets (thrombocytopenia), a decrease in function of platelets (thrombasthenia), or an increase in the number of platelets (thrombocytosis). There are disorders that reduce the number of platelets, such as heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) that typically cause thromboses, or clots, instead of bleeding.
Platelets release a multitude of growth factors including Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), a potent chemotactic agent, and TGF beta, which stimulates the deposition of extracellular matrix. Both of these growth factors have been shown to play a significant role in the repair and regeneration of connective tissues. Other healing-associated growth factors produced by platelets include basic fibroblast growth factor, insulin-like growth factor 1, platelet-derived epidermal growth factor, and vascular endothelial growth factor. Local application of these factors in increased concentrations through Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used as an adjunct to wound healing for several decades.
For more information about Platelet, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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