How molecules produced by platelets are involved in blood clotting

Vascular roles of HpETE/HETEs produced by platelet COX and LOX enzymes

When blood clots form in blood vessels they can block the flow of blood to vital organs and can cause heart attacks and strokes. Blood clots form when small cells in the blood called platelets become activated and stick together. When activated, platelets produce large amounts of a family of molecules called eicosanoids. People at risk of a heart attack or stroke are often given aspirin to prevent blood clots forming. Aspirin works by stopping platelets producing an eicosanoid molecule called thromboxane A2. This stops the platelets from becoming activated and then sticking together. As well as thromboxane A2, platelets produce a range of related chemicals called HETEs but we don’t understand what these molecules do. Professor Timothy Warner and his team at Queen Mary, University of London believe that HETEs help to maintain blood flow through the heart’s coronary arteries by relaxing the blood vessel walls, reducing the chances of platelets sticking together and blocking blood flow to the heart muscle. The BHF has now awarded them a grant to study these molecules further to find out what effects HETEs have on the walls of blood vessels surrounding activated platelets throughout the body. This research will study how HETEs are involved in the blood clotting process. New anti-clotting medicines could help to protect people at risk from experiencing a heart attack or stroke in the future.