New Horizons: Predicting Thrombosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Droplet microfluidics for deriving a molecular portrait of the pathogenic platelet and predicting thrombosis risk
IRAS ID
320501
Contact name
Jonathan West
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
New, reliable biomarkers are needed for predicting the risk of unwanted clotting, called thrombosis. Platelets are key drivers of thrombosis, with a hyper-reactive phenotype leading to heart attacks and strokes. Platelets are highly variable in function, with hyper-reactive platelets long thought, but not proven, to cause thrombosis by coordinating the activation of other platelets. In addition, a broad range of diseases often associated with inflammation and infection, and especially relevant to our ageing population, are known to prime platelets, increasing their reactivity and leading to increased thrombosis risk. Quite how priming alters the hyper-reactive platelet population and how this impacts thrombosis risk remains unknown. Research in this direction is confounded by the difficulty in identifying single hyper-reactive platelets. We aim to implement droplet microfluidics to measure changes in the hyper-reactive platelet population and link these changes to thrombosis risk. In pursuit of a simple, cost-effective and reliable biomarker, we will then develop a sorting method to isolate hyper-reactive platelets and apply next-generation sequencing methods to define a unique signature (the biomarker) that can be used to identify hyper-reactive platelets. Overall, the research will resolve a long-running debate on the role of hyper-reactive platelets in disease, and provide a method for biomarker discovery to enable thrombosis risk prediction.
REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/LO/0801
Date of REC Opinion
7 Dec 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion