Platelet Adhesion and Mechanosensing on Collagen Coated Substrates

Abstract

Platelets play a critical role in maintaining homeostasis of the body. In order to protect the body from significant injury, platelets adhere to the vascular wall preventing critical vascular system failure. When the collagen is exposed on damaged endothelial cells, platelets adhere to the exposed protein and spread, increasing the size of the clot and preventing further damage to the body. For hemostatic diseases, biomechanical properties of platelets are an area of research critical to helping understand arterial diseases while also furthering the treatment of them. Platelet clot formation relies on the biomechanical aspects of the platelet surroundings as they adhere to the cell wall. It is hypothesized that an increase in the substrate stiffness on which platelets adhere to will increase the spreading area of the platelet in both static and dynamic environments. This paper shows a novel approach to better comprehend biomechanical properties of platelets relating to adhesion and spreading on varying substrate stiffness of collagen-coated polyacrylamide gels.