Frontiers in immunology
Complement C1q promotes primary haemostasis in a microfluidic bleeding model
By Zahiroddini P, Hardy ET, Sakurai Y and 2 others.
Abstract
Background
In systemic inflammatory diseases, thrombotic complications often cannot be fully explained by traditional risk factors, suggesting that the immune system directly affects hemostasis. The complement system, particularly C1q (the recognition molecule of the classical complement pathway), has been shown to enhance primary hemostasis in vivo and to bind von Willebrand factor (vWF) in vitro.
Aim
To investigate the role of the C1q-vWF interaction in human primary hemostasis.
Methods
We used a microfluidic bleeding model with endothelialized microchannels to visualize hemostatic processes in real-time. Following mechanical vessel injury, we tracked C1q deposition and its colocalization with vWF, platelets, and fibrinogen using confocal microscopy. The functional relevance of C1q was assessed using the C1q-inhibitory peptide 2J.