Receptors for ADP on Human Blood Platelets

It is well established that ADP causes aggregation of human blood platelets, and indeed it was the first aggregating agent to be studied, but the ways in which platelets respond to ADP are still relatively obscure. Although it is apparent that increases in intracellular Ca2+ concentrations are of major importance in activating platelets, it is not clearly understood how ADP causes these increases and what other signal transduction mechanisms it uses. It is not even clear whether ADP causes its effects by interacting with only one receptor, or whether multiple receptors for ADP exist on platelets. In this review, Susanna Hourani and David Hall examine some of the conflicting evidence in this field, and draw some tentative conclusions about the number and nature of receptors for ADP on human platelets.