How do platelet proteins control blood clotting?

Glycogen-synthase kinase-3α and glycogen synthase kinase-3β; yin and yang in platelet function and thrombus formation?

Dr Ingeborg Hers and her team at the University of Bristol are studying proteins found inside platelets - small cells in the bloodstream which are vital to stop bleeding. These proteins may be crucial to control blood clotting, and could be new targets for drugs to prevent harmful clots forming within arteries. The blood clotting process, known as thrombosis, is important in causing heart attacks and strokes to occur. Current drugs can cause side effects that include excessive bleeding, so we need to find new ones without harmful side effects. When platelets become activated, they clump together to form a thrombus, or blood clot. Dr Hers has recently discovered that, in mice, a protein inside platelets called glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) may stop platelets from working and clumping together, so clots cannot form. In this project, she will work out how two different forms of this protein are regulated in platelets and how they control platelet function and blood clot formation. By better understanding how platelets are controlled, this research may reveal new ways of managing thrombosis and heart disease. It will reveal if drugs that block GSK3 may be useful tools to treat thrombosis.