Figure 5. Podoplanin expressed on circulating monocytes binds to CLEC-2 and induces platelet release of complement inhibitors in early sepsis.

(A) Podoplanin expression on monocytes and (B) monocyte-platelet aggregates from peripheral blood of mice with or without E. coli injection were analyzed by flow cytometry. The platelet-monocyte complex was shown as the percentage of total monocytes. (C–F) Levels of PF4, C1-INH, clusterin, and factor H released from WT and Clec-2^–/– platelets incubated with saline or recombinant podoplanin for 2 hours at 37°C. Data represent mean ± SD, n = 6 mice/group. ^#P < 0.05, comparing the sample at 0 hours of E. coli injection with samples at other time points after E. coli infection. *P < 0.05. **P < 0.01. Data were analyzed using 1-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test for multiple groups and were representative of 3 independent experiments.