Primary haemostasis: sticky fingers cement the relationship.
(1/4463)
Platelet aggregation to form a haemostatic plug, or thrombus, plays a key role in preventing bleeding from a wound. Recent studies have provided new insights into how platelet receptors are deployed during the interactions with the vascular subendothelial matrix that lead to haemostatic plug formation. (+info)
Nitric oxide in the endometrium.
(2/4463)
Nitric oxide (NO) is an important mediator of paracrine interactions, especially within the vascular system. It is a powerful inhibitor of platelet aggregation and a potent vasodilator. NO is also a neurotransmitter and it plays a role in cell-mediated cytotoxicity. NO-generating enzymes (nitric oxide synthases, NOS) have been described in the endometrium of a number of species, suggesting that NO might be involved in endometrial function. In human endometrium, endothelial NOS and inducible NOS have been localized to glandular epithelium in the non-pregnant uterus. Weak inducible NOS immunoreactivity has been observed in decidualized stromal cells. NO might participate in the initiation and control of menstrual bleeding. Furthermore, it may play a part in the inhibition of platelet aggregation within the endometrium, where menstrual haemostasis is thought to occur primarily by vasoconstriction rather than clot organization. Endometrially derived NO could also suppress myometrial contractility. Recent attention has focused on the part that NO might play in maintaining myometrial quiescence during pregnancy. NO also appears to relax the non-pregnant myometrium, an action which could be exploited for the medical treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea. (+info)
Labeling of the internal pool of GP IIb-IIIa in platelets by c7E3 Fab fragments (abciximab): flow and endocytic mechanisms contribute to the transport.
(3/4463)
Abciximab is a new antiplatelet therapeutic in ischemic cardiovascular disease. The drug, chimeric Fab fragments of a murine monoclonal antibody (MoAb) (c7E3), blocks GP IIb-IIIa function. However, its capacity to reach all receptor pools in platelets is unknown. Electron microscopy and immunogold labeling were used to localize abciximab in platelets of patients receiving the drug for up to 24 hours. Studies on frozen-thin sections showed that c7E3 Fab, in addition to the surface pool, also labeled the surface-connected canalicular system (SCCS) and alpha-granules. Analysis of gold particle distribution showed that intraplatelet labeling was not accumulative and in equilibrium with the surface pool. After short-term incubations of platelets with c7E3 Fab in vitro, gold particles were often seen in lines within thin elements of the SCCS, some of which appeared in contact with alpha-granules. Little labeling was associated with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia platelets, confirming that the channels contained bound and not free c7E3 Fab. Endocytosis of abciximab in clathrin-containing vesicles was visualized by double staining and constitutes an alternative mechanism of transport. The remaining free pool of GP IIb-IIIa was evaluated with the MoAb AP-2; flow cytometry showed it to be about 9% on the surface of nonstimulated platelets but 33% on thrombin-activated platelets. The ability of drugs to block all pools of GP IIb-IIIa and then to be associated with secretion-dependent residual aggregation must be considered when evaluating their efficiency in a clinical context. (+info)
Activation of G12/G13 results in shape change and Rho/Rho-kinase-mediated myosin light chain phosphorylation in mouse platelets.
(4/4463)
Platelets respond to various stimuli with rapid changes in shape followed by aggregation and secretion of their granule contents. Platelets lacking the alpha-subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein Gq do not aggregate and degranulate but still undergo shape change after activation through thromboxane-A2 (TXA2) or thrombin receptors. In contrast to thrombin, the TXA2 mimetic U46619 led to the selective activation of G12 and G13 in Galphaq-deficient platelets indicating that these G proteins mediate TXA2 receptor-induced shape change. TXA2 receptor-mediated activation of G12/G13 resulted in tyrosine phosphorylation of pp72(syk) and stimulation of pp60(c-src) as well as in phosphorylation of myosin light chain (MLC) in Galphaq-deficient platelets. Both MLC phosphorylation and shape change induced through G12/G13 in the absence of Galphaq were inhibited by the C3 exoenzyme from Clostridium botulinum, by the Rho-kinase inhibitor Y-27632 and by cAMP-analogue Sp-5,6-DCl-cBIMPS. These data indicate that G12/G13 couple receptors to tyrosine kinases as well as to the Rho/Rho-kinase-mediated regulation of MLC phosphorylation. We provide evidence that G12/G13-mediated Rho/Rho-kinase-dependent regulation of MLC phosphorylation participates in receptor-induced platelet shape change. (+info)
Carbohydrate on human factor VIII/von Willebrand factor. Impairment of function by removal of specific galactose residues.
(5/4463)
Human factor VIII/von Willebrand factor protein containing 120 +/- 12 nmol of sialic acid and 135 +/- 13 nmol of galactose/mg of protein was digested with neuraminidase. The affinity of native factor VIII/von Willebrand factor and its asialo form for the hepatic lectin that specifically binds asialoglycoproteins was assessed from in vitro binding experiments. Native factor VIII/von Willebrand factor exhibited negligible affinity while binding of the asialo derivative was comparable to that observed for asialo-alpha1-acid glycoprotein. Incubation of asialo-factor VIII/von Willebrand factor with Streptococcus pneumoniae beta-galactosidase removed only 62% of the galactose but abolished binding to the purified hepatic lectin. When the asialo derivative was incubated with purified beta-D-galactoside alpha2 leads to 6 sialyltransferase and CMP-[14C]NeuAc, only 61% of the galactose incorporated [14C]NeuAc. From the known specificites of these enzymes, it is concluded that galactose residues important in lectin binding are present in a terminal Gal/beta1 leads to 4GlcNAc sequence on asialo-factor VIII/von Willebrand factor. The relative ristocetin-induced platelet aggregating activity of native, asialo-, and agalacto-factor VIII/von Willebrand factor was 100:38:12, respectively, while procoagulant activity was 100:100:103. (+info)
Effects of docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acid on lipid metabolism, eicosanoid production, platelet aggregation and atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic rats.
(6/4463)
Exogenously hypercholesterolemic (ExHC) rats were fed on an atherogenic diet supplemented with 1% each of either ethyl ester docosahexaenoic acid [EE-DHA, 22:6(n-3)], ethyl ester eicosapentaenoic acid [EE-EPA, 20:5(n-3)] or safflower oil (SO) for 6 months. The rats fed on the diets containing EE-EPA or EE-DHA, compared with those fed on SO, had lower serum cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels, less aggregation of platelets and slower progress of intimal thickening in the ascending aorta. Relative to the SO-fed rats, both of the (n-3) fatty acid-fed rats had a significantly reduced proportion of arachidonic acid in the platelet and aortic phospholipids, and lower production of thromboxane A2 by platelets and of prostacyclin by the aorta. These results suggest that EPA and DHA are similarly involved in preventing atherosclerosis development by reducing hypercholesterolemia and modifying the platelet functions. (+info)
Platelet aggregation and incident ischaemic heart disease in the Caerphilly cohort.
(7/4463)
BACKGROUND: Platelets are involved in myocardial infarction but evidence of prediction of infarction by measures of platelet function are sparce. METHODS: Platelet aggregation to thrombin and to ADP in platelet rich plasma was recorded for 2176 men aged 49-65 years in the Caerphilly cohort study. RESULTS: Results from 364 men were excluded, 80 of whom had not fasted before venepuncture; most of the others were excluded because antiplatelet medication had been taken shortly before the platelet tests. During the five years following the platelet tests 113 ischaemic heart disease (IHD) events which fulfilled the World Health Organisation criteria were identified--42 fatal and 71 non-fatal. No measure of platelet aggregation was found to be significantly predictive of incident IHD. The possibility that platelet function is predictive for only a limited time after it is characterised, and that prediction falls off with time, was tested. When IHD events are grouped by their time of occurrence after aggregation had been measured, the test results show a gradient suggestive of prediction of early IHD events. Thus, 24% of the men who had an event within 500 days of the test had had a high secondary response to ADP while only 12% of those whose IHD event had been 1000 or more days after the test had shown a high platelet response at baseline. The trend in these proportions is not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Platelet aggregation to thrombin and ADP in platelet rich plasma was recorded in the Caerphilly cohort study. No measure of aggregation was found to be predictive of IHD. (+info)
Age-related changes in blood coagulation and fibrinolysis in mice fed on a high-cholesterol diet.
(8/4463)
To investigate the pathogenesis of hyperlipidemia-induced atherosclerosis, we examined age-dependent changes in platelet activity, blood coagulation and fibrinolysis in susceptibility to a high cholesterol diet (HCD) feeding in male ICR mice. Pretreatment of platelet-rich-plasma from HCD feeding mice for 3 days with epinephrine (300 microM) resulted in a marked enhancement of adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP: 0.1 microM) or collagen (0.7 microgram/ml)-stimulated aggregation compared with the same in control mice. Yohimbine as alpha 2-adrenergic blocker antagonized these aggregations in a dose-dependent manner. A significant increase in plasma total cholesterol and VLDL (very low-density lipoprotein)-LDL (low-density lipoprotein)-cholesterol and the liver/body weight ratio was observed in mice fed on HCD for 3 months (3-month HCD mice). In the early phase of this experiment, a significant increase in fibrinogen was observed. In the middle phase, increases in the activity of antithrombin III (ATIII) and alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor (alpha 2-Pl) followed. Plasminogen content gradually decreased in both normal diet and HCD mice throughout the experiment. The activity of plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) decreased in 3-month HCD mice. Morphological observation of the aortic arch from 3-month HCD mice revealed apparent atheromatous plaques not seen in control mice. These results suggest that 3-month HCD mice can be a convenient hyperlipidemia-induced atherosclerotic model and the changes in platelet activity, coagulation and fibrinolysis in the early phase may be a cause of pathologic changes in this model. (+info)