Updated understanding of platelets in thrombosis and hemostasis: the roles of integrin PSI domains and their potential as therapeutic targets.

Updated understanding of platelets in thrombosis and hemostasis: the roles of integrin PSI domains and their potential as therapeutic targets. Cardiovasc Hematol Disord Drug Targets. 2020 Oct 01;: Authors: MacKeigan DT, Ni T, Shen C, Stratton TW, Ma W, Zhu G, Bhoria P, Ni H Abstract Platelets are small blood cells known primarily for their ability to adhere and aggregate at injured vessels to arrest bleeding. However, when triggered under pathological conditions, the same adaptive mechanism of platelet adhesion and aggregation may cause thrombosis, a primary cause of heart attack and stroke. Over recent decades, research has made considerable progress in uncovering the intricate and dynamic interactions that regulate these processes. Integrins are heterodimeric cell surface receptors expressed on all metazoan cells that facilitate cell adhesion, movement, and signaling, to drive biological and pathological processes such as thrombosis and hemostasis. Recently, our group discovered that the plexinsemaphorin-integrin (PSI) domains of the integrin β subunits exert endogenous thiol isomerase activity derived from their two highly conserved CXXC active site motifs. Given the importance of redox reactions in integrin activation and its location in the knee region, this PSI domain activity may be critically involved in facilitating the interconversions between integrin conformations. Our monoclonal antibodies against the β3 PSI domain inh...
Source: Cardiovascular and Hematological Disorders Drug Targets - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Cardiovasc Hematol Disord Drug Targets Source Type: research