Department of Biological Sciences

Dodge Hall Rm 375
118 Library Dr
Rochester, MI 48309-4479
(location map)
(248) 370-3550
fax: (248) 370-4225
[email protected]

A. Valance Washington

A headshot of Valance Washington.
A. Valance Washington
Professor, Ph.D.
313 DH
(248) 370-4495
[email protected]

Washington lab website

Courses:

BIO 4629 Scientific Inquiry

Research:

Whether just a cut, or life-threatening pneumonia, we have all experienced the effects of inflammation. Accumulating evidence suggests that the small anucleate cells called platelets regulate both the intensity and outcomes of many of the body’s inflammatory responses. Dr. Washington’s laboratory studies a platelet receptor called TLT-1 (the Triggering Receptor Expressed in Myeloid cells (TREM) Like Transcript -1) that seems to function at the interface of hemostasis, mediated by platelets, and inflammation directed by the immune system. His laboratory uses basic biochemistry, animal models, and human subjects to unravel novel mechanisms by which platelets interaction with the immune system direct disease outcomes.

Selected Publications:

Valance Washington List of Publications

Branfield, S., & Washington, A. V. (2020). Control the platelets, control the disease: A novel cystic fibrosis hypothesis. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 18(7), 1531-1534. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jth.14868.

Morales-Ortíz, J., Deal, V., Reyes, F., Maldonado-Martínez, G., Ledesma, N., Staback, F., . . . Washington, A. V. (2018). Platelet-derived TLT-1 is a prognostic indicator in ALI/ARDS and prevents tissue damage in the lungs in a mouse model. Blood, 132(23), 2495-2505. doi:10.1182/blood-2018-03-841593.

Washington, A. V., Esponda, O., & Gibson, A. (2020). Platelet biology of the rapidly failing lung. British Journal of Haematology, 188(5), 641-651. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.16315.

Washington, A. V., Gibot, S., Acevedo, I., Gattis, J., Quigley, L., Feltz, R., . . . McVicar, D. W. (2009). TREM-like transcript-1 protects against inflammation-associated hemorrhage by facilitating platelet aggregation in mice and humans. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 119(6), 1489-1501. doi: 10.1172/JCI36175.

Washington, A. V., Schubert, R. L., Quigley, L., Disipio, T., Feltz, R., Cho, E. H., & McVicar, D. W. (2004). A TREM family member, TLT-1, is found exclusively in the α-granules of megakaryocytes and platelets. Blood, 104(4), 1042-1047. doi: 10.1182/blood-2004-01-0315.