Numerical Study on Platelet Adhesion to Vessel Walls using the Kinetic Monte Carlo Method

Abstract

The interaction between platelets and vessel walls in the primary aggregation of platelets was investigated using kinetic Monte Carlo simulation for the multiscale simulation of thrombus formation. The kinetic Monte Carlo lattice model of a platelet surface with glycoprotein Ibα (GPIbα) localization region was simulated by considering 3 types of events: GPIbα diffusion, GPIbα-von Willebrand factor (vWF) bond formation, and breakage. The formation and breakage model of GPIbα-vWF bonds were constructed to reproduce experimental results. Next, the adhesion force between a platelet and vessel wall was evaluated, and the contribution of GPIbα localization in platelet adhesion was investigated. The adhesion force curves with respect to the distance between the platelet and vessel wall were convex upward. The results showed that when the bond formation probability between GPIbα and vWF was small, the localization of GPIbα had a large effect on the adhesion force between the platelet and the vessel wall.

Keywords

• thrombus formation
• platelet aggregation
• glycoprotein ibα
• von willebrand factor
• kinetic monte carlo method