Activation and inhibitory mechanisms of blood platelets

Abstract Exposure of platelets to subendothelial matrices initiates physiological hemostasis and pathological thrombosis. Under high shear stress, von Willebrand factor bridges newly exposed collagen to glycoprotein (GP) Ib on platelets. This initial tethering facilitates association between the collagen receptor GPVI and collagen, which generates tyrosine kinase-dependent activation signals, followed by release of secondary mediators and integrin activation. Activated integrin can bind to their ligands including fibrinogen. The released secondary mediators, ADP and thromboxane A2, activate integrin of flowing platelets, which enables formation of platelet thrombi by binding of activated flowing platelets and adhered platelets to collagen via binding between activated aIIbbeta3 integrin and fibrinogen. Platelets also have inhibitory mechanisms, which help to prevent unwanted platelet activation in vivo.