How chemically modifying proteins could control blood clotting

Protein sumoylation in platelets: a potential new signalling paradigm in the control of haemostasis and thrombosis 

Professor Jonathan Gibbins is studying how tiny blood cells called platelets involved in blood clotting are controlled. Platelets prevent the body from losing blood after injury by forming blood clots. While this is vital for survival, platelets can also cause blood clots inside arteries, a process called thrombosis, and this can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Drugs such as aspirin can reduce the chances of thrombosis, but they sometimes don’t work well enough or have serious side effects. Therefore more effective and safer anti-clotting drugs are needed. Understanding exactly how platelets are controlled may reveal new drug targets. Professor Jonathan Gibbins has discovered that proteins within platelets are controlled by a chemical process called ‘sumoylation’, meaning that this process could prove important for controlling platelet function. In this project, Professor Gibbins and his team will work out how sumoylation controls platelet stickiness by studying platelets from mouse and human tissue. They will also find out which platelet proteins are involved in this process. This research could provide insight that leads to the development of new types of anti-clotting drugs to prevent or treat thrombosis.