Blood Platelets Organize Pro- and Anti-Angiogenic Factors into Separate, Distinct Alpha Granules: Implications for the Regulation of Angiogenesis.

In addition to contributing to hemostasis, platelets are increasingly being viewed as major contributors to wound healing and tumor growth. This can be attributed to the many angiogenesis regulatory proteins selectively taken up and stored within the alpha granules of platelets and deposited in the local environment of a tumor or wound upon platelet aggregation and adhesion. Platelets contain both pro and anti-angiogenesis regulators, and the...