Blood coagulation allows for the human body to heal damaged vessels with a platelet and fibrin-containing material to clog the site of bleeding, curbing the amount of blood loss. In humans, the activity of vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKOR) allows for  this process of blood coagulation to occur. Proteins depend on the structural support of disulfide bonds and the deletion of VKOR inhibits the formation of these bonds. This VKOR is the intended target for anticoagulants such as aspirin, one of the most widely used and commercially available forms of anticoagulants. By extracting red blood cell lipids from bovine serum and injecting those lipids onto  an aspirin infused subphase, the Langmuir Monolayer Technique can be used to determine if there is an interaction between the anticoagulant and the lipid indicative by a less ordered, more fluid monolayer. This research allows for the observation of the interactions between the anticoagulant and the lipids at the molecular level in hopes of determining how they might affect the VKOR coagulation process.<br/>

Process of blood coagulation investigated through the interactions of aspirin with bovine red blood cell lipid extract membrane monolayers

249th National Meeting (2015)

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