Files
Abstract
Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, accounting for nearly 30% of deaths in the United States. Patients with late-stage atherosclerosis suffer from life-threatening complications, such as myocardial infarctions, ischemic strokes, aneurysms, and multi-organ failure. Many current treatment options, including anti-platelet and anti-coagulant therapies, although moderately effective at alleviating or preventing thrombotic events of atherosclerosis, carry a risk for bleeding and hemorrhagic complications. Thus, there remains a need to further understand the molecular basis of hemostasis and thrombosis in order develop safer and more effective therapies. The goal of this thesis is to investigate mechanisms in which tyrosine kinase inhibitors reduce thrombotic events, while maintaining hemostasis processes in atherosclerosis, to guide therapeutic interventions for future patients.