Platelets are involved in the maintenance of haemostasis but their inappropriate activation leads to thrombosis, a principal trigger for heart attack and ischaemic stroke. Although platelets circulate in isolation, upon activation they accumulate or aggregate together to form a thrombus, where they function in a co-ordinated manner to prevent loss of blood and control wound repair. Previous report (1) indicates that the stability and functions of a thrombus are maintained through sustained, contact-dependent signalling between platelets. Given the role of gap junctions in the co-ordination of tissue responses, it was hypothesized that gap junctions may be present within a thrombus and mediate intercellular communication between platelets. Therefore studies were performed to explore the presence and functions of connexins in platelets. In this brief review, the roles of hemichannels and gap junctions in the control of thrombosis and haemostasis and the future directions for this research will be discussed.
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June 2015
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Conference Article|
June 01 2015
Gap junctions and connexin hemichannels in the regulation of haemostasis and thrombosis
Sakthivel Vaiyapuri;
Sakthivel Vaiyapuri
*Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AS, U.K.
#Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, School of Biological Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AS, U.K.
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Gagan D. Flora;
Gagan D. Flora
*Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AS, U.K.
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Jonathan M. Gibbins
Jonathan M. Gibbins
1
*Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AS, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (emailj.m.gibbins@reading.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
February 20 2015
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2015 Biochemical Society
2015
Biochem Soc Trans (2015) 43 (3): 489–494.
Article history
Received:
February 20 2015
Citation
Sakthivel Vaiyapuri, Gagan D. Flora, Jonathan M. Gibbins; Gap junctions and connexin hemichannels in the regulation of haemostasis and thrombosis. Biochem Soc Trans 1 June 2015; 43 (3): 489–494. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20150055
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