Inflammatory cell participation in coagulation

D C Altieri1

  • 1Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06536, USA.

Seminars in Cell Biology
|October 1, 1995
PubMed

Vascular cells, and leukocytes in particular, have evolved a formidable machinery to initiate and amplify coagulation. Through multiple, receptor-mediated recognitions this process provides a cellular microenvironment of limited proteolytic activation that contributes to the maintenance of the hemostatic balance in vivo. However, the ability of leukocytes to generate thrombin is also a fundamental aspect of inflammatory responses, and has far-reaching implications in the pathophysiology of vascular diseases. The scope of this article is to revisit the most recent contributions to the cellular and molecular mechanisms of leukocyte-mediated coagulation, and to highlight their role in the pathogenesis of vascular injury.

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