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Elucidation of the molecular mechanism of platelet activation: Dense granule secretion is regulated by small guanosine triphosphate‐binding protein Rab27 and its effector Munc13‐4
Author(s) -
Horiuchi Hisanori,
Shirakawa Ryutaro,
Kondo Hirokazu,
Higashi Tomohito,
Kawato Mitsunori,
Kita Toru
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geriatrics and gerontology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1447-0594
pISSN - 1444-1586
DOI - 10.1111/j.1447-0594.2006.00344.x
Subject(s) - platelet , dense granule , secretion , platelet activation , granule (geology) , effector , guanosine , mechanism (biology) , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , biology , immunology , biochemistry , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology
Cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial and cerebral infarction are common critical diseases occurring more frequently in the elderly. The trigger of the diseases is platelet activation following plaque rupture or erosion. Investigation of the molecular mechanism in platelet activation has been exclusively performed pharmacologically. We have succeeded in establishing the granule secretion and aggregation assays using permeabilized platelets. These systems enabled us to examine the molecular mechanism in platelet activation with molecular biological and biochemical methods. Using these assay systems, we have been investigating the molecular mechanism of platelet activation. With a support grant from the Novartis Foundation for Gerontological Research, we found several molecules involved in the regulation. In this report, I present the progress in the research of the granule secretion mechanism in activated platelets, which was reported in the Japanese Geriatric Society Meeting in 2005.