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Blood, 15 January 2008, Vol. 111, No. 2, pp. 605-612. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on September 25, 2007; DOI 10.1182/blood-2007-07-103424. This Article Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Figures All Versions of this Article: blood-2007-07-103424v1 111/2/605    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Jones, S. Articles by Gibbins, J. M Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Jones, S. Articles by Gibbins, J. M Related Collections Related Article in Blood Online Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Next Article  Submitted July 25, 2007 Accepted August 31, 2007 Peripheral tachykinins and the neurokinin receptor NK1 are required for platelet thrombus formation Sarah Jones, Katherine L Tucker, Tanya Sage, William J Kaiser, Natasha E Barrett, Philip J Lowry, Andreas Zimmer, Stephen P Hunt, Michael Emerson, and Jonathan M Gibbins* School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom Institute of Molecular Psychiatry, Life & Brain Centre, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom * Corresponding author; email: j.m.gibbins{at}reading.ac.uk. Platelets play an important role in hemostasis with inappropriate platelet activation being a major contributor to debilitating and often fatal thrombosis, by causing myocardial infarction and stroke. Although current anti-thrombotic treatment is generally well tolerated and effective, many patients still experience cardiovascular problems, which may reflect the existence of alternative underlying regulatory mechanisms in platelets to those targeted by existing drugs. In this study we define a role for peripherally distributed members of the tachykinin family of peptides, namely substance P and the newly discovered endokinins A and B that are present in platelets, in the activation of platelet function and thrombus formation. We have reported previously that the preferred pharmacologically characterised receptor for these peptides, the NK1 receptor, is present on platelets. Inhibition or deficiency of the NK1 receptor, or SP agonist activity, resulted in substantially reduced thrombus formation in vitro under arterial flow conditions, increased bleeding time in mice and a decrease in experimentally induced thromboembolism. Inhibition of the NK1 receptor may therefore provide benefit in patients vulnerable to thrombosis and may offer an alternative therapeutic target. CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this? Related Article in Blood Online: Neurotransmittors act as platelet activators Jan Willem N. Akkerman Blood 2008 111: 476. [Full Text] [PDF] This article has been cited by other articles: S. W. S. Sio, M. K. Puthia, J. Lu, S. Moochhala, and M. Bhatia The Neuropeptide Substance P Is a Critical Mediator of Burn-Induced Acute Lung Injury J. Immunol., June 15, 2008; 180(12): 8333 - 8341. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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