Development of a Platelet Calcium Flux Assay Using Fura-2, AM on the FlexStation 3 Reader

Platelets are small, anucleate blood cells that mediate haemostasis by aggregating at sites of blood vessel injury to form a thrombus (or clot) that limits blood loss. When platelets respond to vessel damage inappropriately this can lead to thrombotic disease such as heart attacks and ischaemic stroke. Three main steps underlie thrombus formation: stage one is adhesion (platelets attach to exposed matrix proteins in the damaged vascular endothelium), stage two is activation (receptor mediated events such as shape change and secretion of chemical messengers), and stage three is aggregation (platelet-to-platelet adhesion).