Proteomic approaches to dissect platelet function: half the story

Platelets play critical roles in diverse hemostatic and pathologic disorders and are broadly implicated in various biological processes that include inflammation, wound healing, and thrombosis. Recent progress in high-throughput mRNA and protein profiling techniques has advanced our understanding of the biological functions of platelets. Platelet proteomics has been adopted to decode the complex processes that underlie platelet function by identifying novel platelet-expressed proteins, dissecting mechanisms of signal or metabolic pathways, and analyzing functional changes of the platelet proteome in normal and pathologic states. The integration of transcriptomics and proteomics, coupled with progress in bloinformatics, provides novel tools for dissecting platelet biology. In this review, we focus on current advances in platelet proteomic studies, with emphasis on the importance of parallel transcriptornic studies to optimally dissect platelet function. Applications of these global profiling approaches to investigate platelet genetic diseases and platelet-related disorders are also addressed.