Platelet-derived microparticles

Abstract

Numerous findings have allowed the field of microparticles (MP) to progress dramatically from the original discovery of platelet dusts characterizing the phenotypes and functions of these novel subcellular biovectors, investigating the mechanisms of their formation from parental cells, determining their effects on others cells both in physiology and disease states, and translating these notions to disease innovative diagnosis and treatment. The present chapter focuses on platelet-derived MP (PMP) characteristics, biogenesis, and biological roles. After a rapid overview of detection methods, PMP paradoxical functions in disease process and regenerative medicine are discussed, together with future prospects as diagnostic tools and therapeutic agents. PMP are naturally diffusible vectors that play a role in cell/cell communication and deliver active biomolecules. This is believed to have significant pathological implication in the development of several diseases such as cancer, thromboembolism, and atherosclerosis, among others. There is still much research required to understand the paradoxical roles played by PMP in triggering pathological events but also sustaining vessel growth and tissue regeneration. Clinical data linking PMP to pathologies should be interpreted with some caution due to the lack of standardization and technical limitations of methods for PMP exploration that have been applied so far. The recent progress in new methodologies addressing the pitfalls of current techniques in PMP isolation and detection, capable of detecting and counting PMP more accurately, to assess their variability and measure their functional activity, will contribute to a better understanding of their pathological role and also their potential promising use in regenerative medicine.