BACKGROUND The use of sex steroids in oral contraception or hormonal replacement therapy is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular thromboembolic complications. Although both the estrogen and the progestin components have been involved, the underlying mechanisms responsible are unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS This study examined whether sex steroids promote hemostasis indirectly by ...

Antihemophilic factor (AHF, Factor VIII) antigen has been demonstrated in cultured human endothelial cells by immunofluorescence studies using monospecific rabbit antibody to human AHF. Control studies with cultured human smooth muscle cells and human fibroblasts were negative. By radioimmunoassay it was demonstrated that cultured human endothelial cells contain AHF antigen which is released in...

BACKGROUND Tissue factor (TF) initiates the extrinsic coagulation cascade leading to thrombin formation. Thrombin induces TF mRNA in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), thereby contributing to the prolonged procoagulant activity and enhanced thrombogenicity at sites of vascular injury. However, the signaling mechanisms mediating this thrombogenic cycle are unclear. Characteristically, vascula...

In platelets, STIM1 has been recognized as the key regulatory protein in store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE) with Orai1 as principal Ca(2+) entry channel. Both proteins contribute to collagen-dependent arterial thrombosis in mice in vivo. It is unclear whether STIM2 is involved. A key platelet response relying on Ca(2+) entry is the surface exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS), which accomplishes...

We have discovered a novel canine hereditary bleeding disorder with the characteristic features of Scott syndrome, a rare defect of platelet procoagulant activity. Affected dogs were from a single, inbred colony and experienced clinical signs of epistaxis, hyphema, intramuscular hematoma, and prolonged bleeding with cutaneous bruising after surgery. The hemostatic abnormalities identified were ...

When platelets are strongly stimulated, a procoagulant platelet subpopulation is formed that is characterized by phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure and epitope modulation of integrin αIIbβ3 or a loss of binding of activation-dependent antibodies. Mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) formation, which is essential for the formation of procoagulant platelets, is impaired in the absence ...

It has been suggested that the basis for the marked discordance in factor VIII parameters in preeclampsia is the result of proteolysis of the factor VIII procoagulant component (VIII:C) owing to activation of the coagulation system. To investigate this further, levels were compared of factor VIII:C and VIII:C (Ag), the immunologic equivalent of the procoagulant activity, in a series of preeclam...