Coagulation and Lipids [antikvár]

PREFACE The crucial role of lipids in blood coagulation has been appreciated for many years. They participate in several steps in the coagulation cascade, increasing the rate with which thrombin is formed. The medical importance of this process is obvious: excess of thrombin production may lead to arterial and venous thrombosis, whereas a short measure of thrombin formation gives rise to bleeding disorders. Although the whole of thrombotic and bleeding disorders is responsible for more than half of the causes of death in western societies, the importance is nevertheless underrated. This occurs not only among people with medical training but is equally true for biochemists if you consider the relatively small fraction that studies blood coagulation. They should not underrate this importance, if only for scientific reasons, and we hope that this volume will convince them. The objectives of this book are to present a coherent and up-to-date volume on the various biochemical mechanisms by which lipids partake in the process of blood coagulation. Essential background information on blood coagulation, membrane lipids, and platelets is contained in three introductory chapters. The next section deals with the biophysical mechanisms involved in adsorption of coagulation factors at lipid-water interfaces, as well as with biochemical mechanisms by which lipids promote the catalytic activity of the different proteases in the coagulation cascade. This includes the function of phospholipids in the extrinsic pathway and the role of sulfolipids in the intrinsic pathway of blood coagulation. Since platelet membrane phospholipids play a significant role in two consecutive and crucial reactions in coagulation, i.e., factor X and prothrombin activation, a number of membrane phenomena involved in the exposure of procoagulant lipids during platelet activation will be dealt within the final section of this volume. We hope that the work will not only provide useful reference to investigators in the field but will also stimulate workers in related areas such as enzyme kinetics and biological membranes. R. F. A. Zwaal October 1987