Haemostatic role of intermediate filaments in adhered platelets: importance of the membranous system stability

Force generation in human blood platelets by filamentous actomyosin structures

Blood platelets are central elements of the blood clotting response after wounding. Upon vessel damage, they bind to the surrounding matrix and contract the forming thrombus, thus helping to restore normal blood circulation. The hemostatic function of platelets is directly connected to their mechanics and cytoskeletal organization. The reorganization of the platelet cytoskeleton during spreading occurs within minutes and leads to the formation of contractile actomyosin bundles, but it is not known if there is a direct correlation between the emerging actin structures and the force field that is exerted to the environment. In this study, we combine fluorescence imaging of the actin structures with simultaneous traction force measurements in a time-resolved manner. In addition, we image the final states with superresolution microscopy. We find that both the force fields and the cell shapes have clear geometrical patterns defined by stress fibers. Force generation is localized in a few hotspots, which appear early during spreading, and, in the mature state, anchor stress fibers in focal adhesions. Moreover, we show that, for a gel stiffness in the physiological range, force generation is a very robust mechanism and we observe no systematic dependence on the amount of added thrombin in solution or fibrinogen coverage on the substrate, suggesting that force generation after platelet activation is a threshold phenomenon that ensures reliable thrombus contraction in diverse environments.

From structural resilience to cell specification - Intermediate filaments as regulators of cell fate

During the last decades intermediate filaments (IFs) have emerged as important regulators of cellular signaling events, ascribing IFs with functions beyond the structural support they provide. The organ and developmental stage‐specific expression of IFs regulate cell differentiation within developing or remodeling tissues. Lack of IFs causes perturbed stem cell differentiation in vasculature, intestine, nervous system, and mammary gland, in transgenic mouse models. The aberrant cell fate decisions are caused by deregulation of different stem cell signaling pathways, such as Notch, Wnt, YAP/TAZ, and TGFβ. Mutations in genes coding for IFs cause an array of different diseases, many related to stem cell dysfunction, but the molecular mechanisms remain unresolved. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of how IFs interact with and regulate the activity, localization and function of different signaling proteins in stem cells, and how the assembly state and PTM profile of IFs may affect these processes. Identifying when, where and how IFs and cell signaling congregate, will expand our understanding of IF‐linked stem cell dysfunction during development and disease.

New explanations for old observations: marginal band coiling during platelet activation

Blood platelets are tiny cell fragments derived from megakaryocytes. Their primary function is to control blood vessel integrity and ensure hemostasis if a vessel wall is damaged. Circulating quiescent platelets have a flat, discoid shape maintained by a circumferential microtubule bundle, called the marginal band (MB). In the case of injury platelets are activated and rapidly adopt a spherical shape due to microtubule motor-induced elongation and subsequent coiling of the MB. Platelet activation and shape change can be transient or become irreversible. This depends on the strength of the activation stimulus, which is translated into a cytoskeletal crosstalk between microtubules, their motors and the actomyosin cortex, ensuring stimulus-response coupling. Following microtubule motor-driven disc-to-sphere transition, a strong stimulus will lead to compression of the sphere through actomyosin cortex contraction. This will concentrate the granules in the center of the platelet and accelerate their exocytosis. Once granules are released, platelets have crossed the point of no return to irreversible activation. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the molecular mechanism leading to platelet shape change, with a special emphasis on microtubules, and refers to previously published observations, which have been essential for generating an integrated view of cytoskeletal rearrangements during platelet activation.

The genetics of vascular incidents associated with second-generation antipsychotic administration

Second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) have been associated with risk of stroke in elderly patients, but the molecular and genetic background under this association has been poorly investigated. The aim of the present study was to prioritize a list of genes with an SGA altered expression in order to characterize the genetic background of the SGA-associated stroke risk. Genes with evidence of an altered expression after SGA treatments in genome-wide investigations, both in animals and men, were identified. The Genetic Association Database (GAD) served to verify which of these genes had a proven positive association with an increased stroke risk, and along with it each evidence was tested and recorded. Seven hundred and forty five genes had evidence of a change of their expression profile after SGA administration in various studies. Nine out of them have also been significantly related to an increased strokes risk. We identified and described nine genes as potential candidates for future genetic studies aimed at identifying the genetic background of the SGA-related stroke risk. Further, we identify the molecular pathways in which these genes operate in order to provide a molecular framework to understand on which basis SGA may enhance the risk for stroke.