Return to Colloquia & Seminar listing
Mathematical Approaches to Three Problems in Vascular Biology Related to Intravascular Blood Clotting
Mathematical Biology| Speaker: | Aaron Fogelson, University of Utah |
| Location: | 2112 MSB |
| Start time: | Mon, Nov 16 2009, 3:10PM |
Description
Damage to the lining of a blood vessel triggers the intertwined
processes of platelet aggregation and coagulation that result in the
formation of a thrombus (clot) at the injury site. The thrombus
itself is made up of platelets adherent to the vessel and to one
another, and of a fibrin protein gel surrounding and between the
platelets. An enzyme thrombin is critical to both platelet deposition
and to fibrin gelation and is produced by a complex network of
reactions on the vascular surface, in the blood plasma, and on the
surfaces of platelets. This process happens under flow and, in turn,
can strongly influence the flow. I will present work addressing three
problems related to these processes:
1) How do platelet deposition and coagulation up through thrombin
production interact under flow?
2) How does it come about that, in flowing whole blood, platelets are
found preferentially near the vascular walls?
3) How can the rate at which thrombin produces fibrin momoners affect
the ultimate branching structure of the fibrin gel?