Platelets vs. Bacteria

Platelets as potentscavengers of bacteria? Really?Something like 750 billion tiny cell fragments called platelets circulate in the human blood stream. When an injury to a blood vessel occurs, they stick to the exposed collagen in groups —forming  platelet plug. And trigger additional reactions thateventually result in a blood clot.But did you know that they haveother helpful jobs, too? Likerounding up bacteria andfeeding them up to immune cells, which devour them to make us safe.Thisinnate immune function of plateletshas recently been outlined by researchers, as the information below summarizes.Read through the quick points below to get an overview of some immune functions of platelets. Then read the full articles if you want to know more about these discoveries —including some great diagrams, micrographs, and videos.[A short item on this topic also appears in today's edition of my dailyNuzzel newsletter of curated headlines for A&P professors.]Quick points about platelets as bacterial scavengersAt sites of vessel injury/inflammation, platelets that contact intact collagen stick together —butplatelets that do not contact collagen are motile.Motile platelets change shapefrom a "fried egg" to a polarized "half moon" to better navigate the shearing forces of blood flow.They can evennavigate "upstream" against the flow of blood.Platelets can usemechanical force to pull particles —including bacteria—from surrounding substrates.Plateletscollect and bundle bacteri...

Source: The A and P Professor - January 5, 2018 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs