title: Microparticles in sickle cell anaemia: promise and pitfalls.
abstract: Blood from patients with sickle cell disease contains microparticles (MP) derived from multiple cell sources, including red cells, platelets, monocytes and endothelial cells. MPs are of great interest because of their disease associations, their status as promising biomarkers, and the intercellular communications they mediate. To illustrate the likelihood of their relevance in sickle cell disease, we discuss the nature of MP, their profiling in sickle disease, some caveats relevant to their detection, their roles in supporting coagulation and the disparate influences they may exert upon the pathobiology of sickle cell disease.
authors.affiliation: Division of Haematology-Oncology-Transplantation, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Hebbel
authors.affiliation: Division of Haematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Nigel S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Key
mesh_terms: D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers; D001777:Blood Coagulation; D055252:Cell-Derived Microparticles / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: biomarker; extracellular vesicle; flow cytometry; microparticle; sickle cell anaemia