Eichhorn T, Weiss R, Huber S, Ebeyer-Masotta M, Mostageer M, Emprechtinger R, Knabl L, Knabl L, Würzner R, Weber V. Expression of Tissue Factor and Platelet/Leukocyte Markers on Extracellular Vesicles Reflect Platelet-Leukocyte Interaction in Severe COVID-19.
Int J Mol Sci 2023;
24:16886. [PMID:
38069209 PMCID:
PMC10707108 DOI:
10.3390/ijms242316886]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe COVID-19 is frequently associated with thromboembolic complications. Increased platelet activation and platelet-leukocyte aggregate formation can amplify thrombotic responses by inducing tissue factor (TF) expression on leukocytes. Here, we characterized TF-positive extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their cellular origin in 12 patients suffering from severe COVID-19 (time course, 134 samples overall) and 25 healthy controls. EVs exposing phosphatidylserine (PS) were characterized by flow cytometry. Their cellular origin was determined by staining with anti-CD41, anti-CD45, anti-CD235a, and anti-CD105 as platelet, leukocyte, red blood cell, and endothelial markers. We further investigated the association of EVs with TF, platelet factor 4 (PF4), C-reactive protein (CRP), and high mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB-1). COVID-19 patients showed higher levels of PS-exposing EVs compared to controls. The majority of these EVs originated from platelets. A higher amount of EVs in patient samples was associated with CRP, HMGB-1, PF4, and TF as compared to EVs from healthy donors. In COVID-19 samples, 16.5% of all CD41+ EVs displayed the leukocyte marker CD45, and 55.5% of all EV aggregates (CD41+CD45+) co-expressed TF, which reflects the interaction of platelets and leukocytes in COVID-19 on an EV level.
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