Platelets and their Role in Thrombotic and Cardiovascular Disease: The Impact of Proteomic Analysis
Stanley RG., Tucker KL., Barrett NE., Gibbins JM.
This chapter provides an overview of how proteomics research impacts on our understanding of platelets. In addition to their role in hemostasis, inappropriate platelet activation is strongly related to the leading cause of death in Western societies: thrombotic cardiovascular disease. The known processes of platelet activation and the signaling mechanisms that regulate these are detailed here, but this knowledge is incomplete. Mass-spectrometry-based proteomics has already contributed to a growth in the understanding of platelets and presents itself as a tool that can unravel the details of the control of platelet function in health and disease through continuing refinements in technology and experimental design toward the development of diagnostic tools and antithrombotic drugs. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.