Tissue factor and atherosclerosis: not only vessel wall-derived TF, but also platelet-associated TF.

In the last ten years the contribution of both vessel wall-derived tissue factor (TF) and platelets to atherosclerosis has been revisited. At the beginning of the 2000 a circulating blood-borne TF has been proposed to sustain coagulation activation and propagation on the edge of a growing thrombus. Concomitantly with the observation that platelets not only contribute to thrombus formation, but also take part to the onset of the atherosclerotic lesion, evidences have been provided that they express functionally active TF, making them able to trigger the coagulation cascade.