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DOI: 10.1160/TH14-05-0414
Imaging the elastic modulus of human platelets during thrombininduced activation using scanning ion conductance microscopy
Financial support: This work was partially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Klinische Forschungsgruppe KFO-274: “Platelets – Molecular Mechanisms and Translational Implications”).Publication History
Received:
08 May 2014
Accepted after major revision:
28 September 2014
Publication Date:
29 November 2017 (online)
![](https://www.thieme-connect.de/media/10.1055-s-00035024/201502/lookinside/thumbnails/10-1160-th14-05-0414-1.jpg)
Summary
Platelet activation plays a critical role in haemostasis and thrombosis. It is well-known that platelets generate contractile forces during activation. However, their mechanical material properties have rarely been investigated. Here, we use scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) to visualise morphological and mechanical properties of live human platelets at high spatial resolution. We found that their mean elastic modulus decreases during thrombin-induced activation by about a factor of two. We observed a similar softening of platelets during cytochalasin D-induced cytoskeleton depolymerisation. However, thrombin-induced temporal and spatial modulations of the elastic modulus were substantially different from cytochalasin D-mediated changes. We thereby provide new insights into the mechanics of haemostasis and establish SICM as a novel imaging platform for the ex vivo investigation of the mechanical properties of live platelets.
† Contributed equally and thus share first authorship.
‡ Contributed equally and thus share senior authorship.
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