Comment: Monitoring the pulse of thrombus formation: comment on 'Modeling thrombosis in silico: frontiers, challenges, unresolved problems and milestones' by A.V. Belyaev et al.

Abstract

The study of platelet function in vitro under conditions that mimic blood flow remains a challenging area of research, due to the complexity of platelet interactions that occur rapidly and often irreversibly. However, the advent of increasingly powerful and sensitive microscopy and imaging approaches has enabled many new observations around platelet molecular events as a thrombus forms. The article by Belyaev and colleagues [1] elegantly reviews the current state of knowledge in this area, and provides a valuable overview of different ways to computationally analyse and model platelet adhesion data acquired under experimental conditions simulating blood flow. Interestingly, the impact of fluid shear stress on platelet biology stretches well beyond simply triggering platelets to adhere and aggregate in a flowing channel and we will highlight some of the additional aspects that may be clinically relevant and worthwhile considering in this context [1]. Show more