Understanding Collective Function of Platelets During Blood Clot Retraction

Blood clots formed during the wound healing process essential for restoring normal blood circulation. Disorders associated with blood clotting can lead to highly dangerous conditions resulting in bleeding, stroke or heart attack. Furthermore, undesired blood clots can lead to thrombosis diseases. It is therefore important to understand the physics governing blood clotting for developing efficient treatment of these disorders. During clot retraction, microscopic platelets extend filopodia to surrounding fibrin filaments to contract the fibrin mesh resulting in macroscale volume changes of the clot. We construct an experimentally informed mesoscopic computational model to examine the micromechanics of clot retraction. The model allows us to probe the effects of filipodia properties and platelet heterogeneity on fibrin clot dynamics. Results indicate that platelet heterogeneity associated with differences in platelet activation times is essential for achieving efficient clot retraction.