Determining platelet activation and aggregation in response to bacteria

Abstract

Many pathogenic bacteria have been reported to interact with human platelets to mediate platelet activation and aggregation. The importance of these interactions to the immune response or pathogenesis of bacterial infection has not been clarified. It may therefore be valuable to assess platelet responses mediated by diverse strains of bacteria. Here, I describe a method to study platelet integrin activation and granule release using flow cytometry, and a complementary method to study platelet aggregation using a dedicated platelet aggregometer. The combination of these methods represents a rapid and cost-effective strategy to provide mechanistic insight on the type of platelet response mediated by the bacteria.