Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Goubau, Christophe
• Buyse, Gunnar M
• Van Geet, Chris
• Freson, Kathleen

Titel

The contribution of platelet studies to the understanding of disease mechanisms in complex and monogenetic neurological disorders

Ist Teil von

• Developmental medicine and child neurology, 2014-08, Vol.56 (8), p.724-731

Ort / Verlag

England

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Quelle

Wiley Online Library All Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Platelets, known for their role in primary haemostasis, prevent excessive bleeding after injury. The study of platelets has, therefore, traditionally focused on bleeding disorders. It has recently become evident, however, that platelet research can contribute to unravelling the disease mechanisms that underlie neuropathological disorders that have a subtle subclinical platelet phenotype. Platelets and neurosecretory cells have common gene expression profiles and share several biological features. This review provides a literature update on the use of platelets as easily accessible cells to study neurological disorders. We provide examples of the use of different platelet‐based tests to understand the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms for both complex and monogenetic neuropathological disorders. In addition to the well‐studied regulated granule secretion and serotonin metabolism, more recent studies have shown that defects in transcription factors, membrane transporters, G‐protein signal transduction, and cytoskeletal proteins can be investigated using platelets to gain information on their role in neuropathology. What this paper adds Platelets and neurons share many secretory pathways and transporters for neurotransmitter uptake and packaging. Functional and morphological platelet studies can contribute to unravelling complex and monogenetic neurological disorders.