Investigate the role of PAF and CD40 ligand in regulating the proinflammatory properties of platelets

血液中的细胞在维持健康的血管方面起着重要作用。我们感兴趣的是两种血细胞，血小板和白细胞，它们共同在血管维护中发挥关键作用，促进损伤后血块的形成和血管壁的修复。然而，尽管这些细胞对正常的血管维持至关重要，但也被证明对包括动脉粥样硬化、血栓形成和炎性呼吸道疾病在内的疾病状态起到了促进作用。这两种血细胞的潜在功能是它们相互黏附(或黏附)的能力。然而，它们协调这种附着力的方式非常复杂。我们实验室的新信息表明，每种细胞类型的粘性行为在空间和时间上都是受调节的，可能涉及细胞内外的多种因素。我们的研究旨在确定调节这些血细胞的“粘性”的关键成分，以了解它们如何有助于维持健康的血管壁，以及它们的粘性如何也有助于促进病变的血管。这些信息不仅将增加我们对调节血液凝块形成的因素的了解，还可能有助于开发预防和/或治疗血管疾病的新疗法。

The cells of the blood play an important role in maintaining healthy blood vessels. We are interested in two types of blood cells, platelets and leukocytes, which together play a key role in vessel maintenance, by promoting blood clot formation and vessel wall repair following injury. However, while critical for normal blood vessel maintenance, these cells have also been demonstrated to contribute to disease states including atherosclerosis, thrombosis and inflammatory airway diseases. Underlying the function of both blood cell types is their ability to stick (or adhere) to each other. However the way in which they coordinate this adhesion is very complex. New information from our laboratory has demonstrated that the sticky behaviour of each cell type is spatially and temporally regulated, and may involve may factors both inside and outside of the cells themselves. Our studies aim to define the key components regulating the 'stickiness' of these blood cells, in order to undertand how they contribute to maintaining healthy vessel walls, but also how their stickiness may also contribute to the promotion of diseased vessels. This information will not only increase our knowledge of the factors that regulate blood clot formation, but may also assist in the development of new therapies to prevent and-or treat vessel disease.