PhD conferral Delia Irene Fernández de la Fuente

"High throughput assessment of platelet signaling, function and inhibition"

Platelets, the smallest cells in the blood, protect the body from bleeding by generating a clot. Adverse platelet activation may occur due to an atherosclerotic plaque obstructing blood circulation, causing thrombosis and leading to a heart attack or stroke. Antiplatelet medications are important in the prevention of thrombosis, but they cause an increased risk of bleeding. This thesis focuses on developing new methods for finding and testing new inhibitors against platelet receptors involved in thrombotic diseases, namely GPVI, GPIb, and PAR1/4, and to better understand patients with bleeding disorders. A microfluidic chamber that could recreate thrombosis in the lab was used to further understand the inhibitors and patients. Some of the inhibitors tested showed antiplatelet function or a potential treatment for patients. Moreover, the microfluidic chamber showed an added value to current diagnostic platelet function tests. Altogether, this thesis’ results have provided additional knowledge about thrombosis and hemostasis and may improve current cardiovascular medicine and result in better diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Language: English

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