{"582369":{"#nid":"582369","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Strength Tests for Platelets","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBleeding disorders could one day be diagnosed by putting platelets through strength tests, researchers have proposed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBiomedical engineers from Georgia Tech and Emory have devised a microfluidic testing ground where platelets can demonstrate their strength by squeezing two protein dots together.\u0026nbsp;Imagine rows and rows of strength testing machines from a carnival, but very tiny. Platelets are capable of exerting forces that are several times larger, in relation to their size, in comparison with muscle cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter a blood clot forms, it contracts, promoting wound closure and restoration of normal blood flow. This process can be deficient in a variety of blood clotting disorders. Previously, it was difficult to measure individual platelet\u0026rsquo;s contributions to contraction, because clots\u0026rsquo; various components got in the way.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe prototype diagnostic tools are described in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nmat\/journal\/vaop\/ncurrent\/full\/nmat4772.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022nature materials\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENature Materials\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;We discovered that platelets from some patients with bleeding disorders are \u0026lsquo;wimpier\u0026rsquo; than platelets from healthy people,\u0026quot; says Wilbur Lam, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u0026quot;Our device may function as a new physics-based method to test for bleeding disorders, complementary to current methods.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first author of the paper is instructor David Myers, Ph.D. Lam is also a physician in the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children\u0026rsquo;s Healthcare of Atlanta. Collaborators at North Carolina State University led by Ashley Brown, Ph.D., contributed to testing the device.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe scientists infer how strong or wimpy someone\u0026rsquo;s platelets are by measuring how far the protein dots move, taking a picture of the rows of dots, and then analyzing the picture on a computer. The dots are made of fibrinogen, a sticky protein that is the precursor for fibrin, which forms a mesh of insoluble strands in a blood clot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to detecting problems with platelet contraction in patients with known inherited disorders such as Wiskott Aldrich syndrome, Myers, Lam and colleagues could also see differences in some patients who had bleeding symptoms, but who performed normally on standard diagnostic tests.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also used chemical tools to dissect the process of platelet contraction. They showed that inhibitors of Rho\/ROCK enzymes shut down platelet contraction, but inhibitors of a related pathway, MLCK (myosin light chain kinase), did not. Individual platelet contraction could become an assay for development or refinement of blood thinning drugs, Lam says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (R01HL121264, U54HL112309) and a National Science Foundation CAREER award.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nEmory Contact:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQuinn Eastman\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-727-7829\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nqeastma@emory.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Contact:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wrich@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Bleeding disorders could one day be diagnosed by putting platelets through strength tests"}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2016-10-10 20:38:24","changed_gmt":"2016-10-10 20:46:04","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"582367":{"id":"582367","type":"image","title":"Strength Tests for Platelets","body":null,"created":"1476131621","gmt_created":"2016-10-10 20:33:41","changed":"1476131621","gmt_changed":"2016-10-10 20:33:41","alt":"Strength Tests for Platelets","file":{"fid":"222002","name":"Platelet_strength_test.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Platelet_strength_test.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Platelet_strength_test.png","mime":"image\/png","size":174479,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Platelet_strength_test.png?itok=YpIGW_hk"}},"582371":{"id":"582371","type":"image","title":"Wilbur Lam","body":null,"created":"1476132066","gmt_created":"2016-10-10 20:41:06","changed":"1522236112","gmt_changed":"2018-03-28 11:21:52","alt":"Wilbur Lam, M.D., Ph.D.","file":{"fid":"222003","name":"0062501-13BM-F044.jpg.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/0062501-13BM-F044.jpg.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/0062501-13BM-F044.jpg.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":189724,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/0062501-13BM-F044.jpg.jpeg?itok=EnuxCbM2"}}},"media_ids":["582367","582371"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Contact:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}