Platelet-leucocyte conjugates
Our scientists have well established flow cytometric techniques to measure platelet-leucocyte interactions in fixed whole blood samples.
Activated platelets may adhere to leucocytes and form circulating Heterogeneous aggregates, platelet-leucocyte conjugates. The latter are considered a reliable marker of prothrombotic conditions and provide a link between inflammation and thrombosis, two central processes in atherogenesis.
The samples are fixed with the same fixative used for assessing aggregation in whole blood and the platelet-specific fluorescence (CD61) is assessed on leucocytes (CD14 positive monocytes are shown in the example).
The assay can also be performed using a 96-well plate format in combination with whole blood aggregation, allowing for measurement of platelet-leukocyte conjugates in small volumes of whole blood. This provides the benefit of having two platelet function readouts from the same sample.
