Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 6 pp 5091—5120

Time-dependent interactions of blood platelets and cancer cells, accompanied by extramedullary hematopoiesis, lead to increased platelet activation and reactivity in a mouse orthotopic model of breast cancer – implications for pulmonary and liver metastasis

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Figure 14. In vitro activation of whole blood platelets incubated with 4T1 cells. Results are presented as median (horizontal line) and interquartile range (box) (n = 8). The expressions of P-selectin (CD62P) (A), the active form of GPIIb/IIIa complex (B) and the binding of endogenous vWF (C) and endogenous fibrinogen (Fg) (D) on platelets was measured using flow cytometry in non-fixed ‘washed blood’ incubated with 4T1-cancer cells or saline. Results are expressed as the percent fraction of the CD41/61-positive platelets. More experimental details are given in the Materials and methods section. The statistical significance of differences, estimated with the Mann-Whitney U-test, was: P-selectin, P1,α < 0.001, 4T1 >saline; active form of GPIIb/IIIa, P1,α < 0.001, 4T1 > saline; vWF, P1,α < 0.01, 4T1 > saline; Fg, P1,α < 0.05, 4T1 > saline.