Week 2: The Coagulation System Flashcards
What is Haemostasis?
The normal response of the vessel to injury of liming bleeding by forming a clot at the site of injury while maintaining blood flow to rest of vessel
Removal of the blood clot following wound healing
What is thrombosis?
The pathological manifestation of haemostasis
Causes restriction or blockage of blood vessel, causing hypoxia or tissue damage
Thrombi can also dislodge, leading to embolization
What are the three stages of haemostasis?
1) Vascular Spasm - Damaged blood vessels constrict and reduce blood flow to that area
2) Platelet Plug Formation - (Primary Haemostasis) Platelets bind to the damaged vessel wall and form a platelet plug.
3) Coagulation - ( Secondary Haemostasis) A stable clot forms by converting fibrinogen to fibrin
What are platelets fragments of?
Megakaryocyte cytoplasm
What is the physiological range of platelets in blood?
150-400 x 10^9/L of blood
What is the lifespan of platelets?
5-9 days
What are old platelets destroyed by?
Kupffer cells in the liver or phagocytosis by spleen
Platelet Ultrastructure (Anatomy)
What are the critical components of platelets?
Membrane proteins
Secretory Granules
Surface-Connected open cannalicular system (SCOCS)
What do alpha granules contain?
1) Adhesive proteins (fibrinogen, fibronectin, vWF)
2) Platelet specific Protein (PF4, PDGF)
3) Membrane Proteins (GPIIBIIIA and other glycoproteins for adhesion processes)
4) alpha granules specific proteins (p-selectin)
What do dense granules contain?
Vasoconstrictive agents (serotonin) Platelet Agonist (ADP, ATP) - activate other platelets Calcium and Magnesium - to activate integrins on the platelet surface
What is the GPIIb-IIIa complex?
vWF interaction, fibrinogen binding and platelet aggregation
How does platelet adhesion happen?
1) When the blood vessel is damaged, the sub endothelial layer is exposed which has collagen and immobilised vWF factor.
2) The platelets adhere to collagen proteins and are tethered to the subendothelium and sheer stress is a critical component of tethering.
3) Blood flow then rolls the platelet along the subendothelium promoting more GPIB/vWF association and creates firmer adhesion.
4) This firmer adhesion allows the initiation of platelet activation resulting in granule release and conformation changes in specific adhesion molecules leading to stronger adhesion, shape change and further activation
How does a platelet plug form?
The activated platelet monolayer release platelet agonists from their granules such as ADP, thromboxane A2 and adhesive proteins, such as fibrinogen, which recruits further platelets to the developing plug.
As new platelet are recruited, they change shape and form pseudopodia allowing for greater platelet-platelet interactions, especially via fibrinogen cross bridges which bind to GPIIbIIIa.
What are coagulation factors?
a group of zymogens which cooperate in an integrated system of enzyme activation and inactivation steps
The coagulation cascade is initiated along which 2 pathways?
Extrinsic (trauma)
Intrinsic (Blood vessel damage)
What is the product of the coagulation cascade?
A gelatinous but robust clot made up of a mesh of fibrin, an insoluble filamentous protein derived from fibrinogen in which platelets and blood cells are trapped.
What are the stages of the coagulation cascade?
What are the stages of the coagulation cascade?
What are anticoagulants in the coagulation cascade?
Tissue factor pathway inhibitor expressed and released by endothelial cells that line blood vessels and other tissues
Anti Thrombin is constantly found in the circulation
What initiates the extrinsic pathway for the coagulation cascade?
Factor 3 - Tissue Factor which all cells have and when cells are damaged or crushed, tissue factor is released.