Figure 7.

Additional staining performed to track CD31 origin in plasma, as it has been reported to be present on both platelets and endothelial cells. Platelet-free plasma from patients with cardiovascular was costained with CD31 and CD42b, a platelet MV marker (A) or CD144, an endothelial marker (B). The staining revealed that majority of CD31+ MVs came from platelets (A) and not endothelial cells (B), thus confirming our data that BAFF+ MVs represent a fraction of platelet MVs. BAFF, B cell activating factor; MVs, microvesicles.