title: Platelet storage: efforts to extend the shelf life of platelet concentrates.
abstract: In transfusion medicine, platelets cannot be replaced by blood substitutes. Circulating platelets must respond quickly to changes in normal blood flow and blood-vessel injury to promote normal hemostasis. Adhesion of platelets at the site of vessel endothelial rupture is mediated through platelet membrane glycoprotein receptors. The integrity of these surface adhesion receptors and the signal-transduction pathways of activation will determine, in large part, how well a platelet functions in hemostasis. The deterioration of these systems during storage leads to a compromise of function known as the 'platelet-storage lesion'.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Department of Pathology 27599, USA. msrb@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Read
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Bode
mesh_terms: D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000502:physiology; D001793:Blood Preservation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology; D006487:Hemostasis; D006801:Humans; D010973:Platelet Adhesiveness; D017713:Platelet Transfusion; D018179:Receptors, Thrombin / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018179:Receptors, Thrombin