Interaction of human blood platelets, lymphocytes and monocytes with vascular laminin isoforms

Abstract: Inflammatory and immune responses play a fundamental role in both health and disease, and leukocytes are important actors in these processes. Migration of the leukocytes to sites of injury or inflammation is a crucial component of innate and adaptive immunity. It is currently accepted that leukocyte extravasation is a multistep process. However, a later step in this cascade, namely the interaction of leukocytes with components of extracellular matrices (ECM), such as the vascular endothelial basement membrane (BM) and the interstitium ECM, is poorly understood. There is also limited information concerning the role of vascular BM proteins in hemostasis and/or thrombosis. In this thesis, the interaction of blood platelets, lymphocytes and monocytes with vascular BM components, particularly the endothelial laminin isoforms, has been studied. Laminins (Lms), major components of all BMs, are a family of heterotrimeric molecules, each composed of