The interplay between platelets and pathogenic bacteria (A11)

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Platelets and pathogenic bacteria mutually affect each other. Toxins from Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus can kill platelets, while platelet releasates impair S. aureus growth. Further, bacterial-derived platelet-activating proteins induce aggregation and thrombus formation, which immobilises bacteria but also causes tissue damage. We address the balance of these different effects. Ex vivo platelet receptors and induced signal cascades will be identified, and the interplay of bacteria and bacterial proteins with human megakaryocytes and the platelet-neutrophil axis will be analysed. In vivo we will decipher the impact of toxins and bacteria on platelets and neutrophils in a mouse pneumonia model and will test mechanisms of new therapeutic interventions.