Role of Annexins in Vascular Hemostasis

Since our understanding of the existence of the Annexin family a vast amount of data dealing with structural and functional aspects of Annexins has appeared in the literature. This chapter describes beside a limited introduction only those data that concern the interaction of Annexins with the hemostatic system in the extracellular space. It is not within the scope of this chapter to deal with the hypotheses concerning the intracellular physiological functions of Annexins. The chapter neither describes the intracellular actions of Annexins on signal transduction and synthesis of biological compounds, that may influence cellular behaviour in the hemostatic system. For more comprehensive treatises of these subjects, the reader is referred to other reviews (Crompton, 1988; Klee, 1988; Creutz, 1992; Raynal and Pollard, 1994; Swairjo and Seaton, 1994).