Fifty years ago, Tversky and Kahneman (Cognitive Psychology, 5[2], 207-232, 1973) reported that people's speeded estimations of 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 were notably higher than their estimations for the equivalent expression in the opposite order, 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5 × 6 × 7 × 8 (Median = 2,250 vs. 512, respectively). On top of this order effect, both groups grossly underestimated the correct value (40,320).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpert Opin Ther Targets
January 2025
Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PEV) have attracted extensive attention in cardiovascular disease research in recent years because their cargo is involved in a variety of pathophysiological processes, such as thrombosis, immune response, promotion or inhibition of inflammatory response, promotion of angiogenesis as well as cell proliferation and migration.
Areas Covered: This review explores the role of PEV in various cardiovascular diseases (such as atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and heart failure), with relation to its molecular cargo (nucleic acids, bioactive lipids, proteins) and aims to provide new insights in the pathophysiologic role of PEV, and methods for preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases based on PEV.
Computational estimation requires a breadth of strategies and selection of the relevant strategy given a problem's features. We used the new Test of Estimation Strategies (TES), composed of 20 arithmetic problems (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Platelets and neutrophils are the first blood cells accumulating at sites of arterial thrombus formation, and both cell types contribute to the pathology of thrombotic events. We aimed to identify key interaction mechanisms between these cells using microfluidic approaches.
Methods: Whole-blood perfusion was performed over a collagen surface at arterial shear rate.
Background: Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is an important regulator of coagulation and a link between inflammation and thrombosis. During thrombotic events, TFPI is proteolytically inactivated by neutrophil elastase while bound to neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Protein arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) catalyzes the conversion of arginine to citrulline and is crucial for NET formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe advent of single-cell biology opens a new chapter for understanding human biological processes and for diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease. This revolution now reaches the field of cardiovascular disease (CVD). New technologies to interrogate CVD samples at single-cell resolution are allowing the identification of novel cell communities that are important in shaping disease development and direct towards new therapeutic strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGalectins, a family of glycan-binding proteins, are well-known for their role in shaping the immune microenvironment. They can directly affect the activity and survival of different immune cell subtypes. Recent evidence suggests that galectins also indirectly affect the immune response by binding to members of another immunoregulatory protein family, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo fulfil its orchestration of immune cell trafficking, a network of chemokines and receptors developed that capitalizes on specificity, redundancy, and functional selectivity. The discovery of heteromeric interactions in the chemokine interactome has expanded the complexity within this network. Moreover, some inflammatory mediators, not structurally linked to classical chemokines, bind to chemokine receptors and behave as atypical chemokines (ACKs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe efficacy of thrombolysis is inversely correlated with thrombus age. During early thrombogenesis, activated factor XIII (FXIIIa) cross-links α2-AP to fibrin to protect it from early lysis. This was exploited to develop an α2-AP-based imaging agent to detect early clot formation likely susceptible to thrombolysis treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHepatic steatosis and chronic hepatocyte damage ultimately lead to liver fibrosis. Key pathophysiological steps are the activation and transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells. We assessed the interplay between hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells under normal and steatotic conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) accounts for 25% of ischemic strokes and is a major cause of cognitive decline. Inflammatory processes, involving immune cells and platelets might drive development and progression of cSVD. The aim of the study was to identify potential novel biomarkers for cSVD, gaining new insights into its pathophysiology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cAMP-protein kinase A (PKA) pathway in platelets is important for both platelet activation and inactivation. We hypothesize that proteins/processes downstream of the cAMP-PKA pathway that are regulated after platelet activation ánd subsequent inactivation can serve as a "switch" in platelet activation and inhibition. We used a STRING-based protein-protein interaction network from proteins of interest distilled from publicly available quantitative platelet proteome datasets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Leukocyte infiltration is a hallmark of hepatic inflammation. The Junctional Adhesion Molecule A (JAM-A) is a crucial regulator of leukocyte extravasation and is upregulated in human viral fibrosis. Reduced shear stress within hepatic sinusoids and the specific phenotype of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC) cumulate in differing adhesion characteristics during liver fibrosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlatelet factor 4 (CXCL4) is a chemokine abundantly stored in platelets. Upon injury and during atherosclerosis, CXCL4 is transported through the vessel wall where it modulates the function of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) by affecting proliferation, migration, gene expression and cytokine release. Variant CXCL4L1 is distinct from CXCL4 in function and expression pattern, despite a minor three-amino acid difference.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGalectins are versatile glycan-binding proteins involved in immunomodulation. Evidence suggests that galectins can control the immunoregulatory function of cytokines and chemokines through direct binding. Here, we report on an inverse mechanism in which chemokines control the immunomodulatory functions of galectins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cause of atherothrombosis is rupture or erosion of atherosclerotic lesions, leading to an increased risk of myocardial infarction or stroke. Here, platelet activation plays a major role, leading to the release of bioactive molecules, for example, chemokines and coagulation factors, and to platelet clot formation. Several antiplatelet therapies have been developed for secondary prevention of cardiovascular events, in which anticoagulant drugs are often combined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: platelets possess not only haemostatic but also inflammatory properties, which combined are thought to play a detrimental role in thromboinflammatory diseases such as acute coronary syndromes and stroke. Phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and -5 inhibitors have demonstrated efficacy in secondary prevention of arterial thrombosis, partially mediated by their antiplatelet action. Yet it is unclear whether such inhibitors also affect platelets' inflammatory functions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe chemokines CCL5 and CXCL4 are deposited by platelets onto endothelial cells, inducing monocyte arrest. Here, the fate of CCL5 and CXCL4 after endothelial deposition was investigated. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and EA.
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