Platelets: crossroads of immunity and hemostasis

In this issue of Blood, Koupenova and colleagues report that platelets express functional TOLL-like receptor 7 (TLR7) and contribute to host survival during viral infection. Through a series of experiments utilizing mice deficient for TLR7 together with adoptive transfer of wild-type platelets, Koupenova et al demonstrate that platelets specifically respond to viral analogs and intact virus, leading to platelet activation and binding to various leukocyte subsets. Perhaps most importantly, this platelet activation appears absolutely essential for host survival during infection with some viral pathogens such as encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV).