|
|
||||||||
J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 279, Issue 21, 22571-22577, May 21, 2004
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

¶

From the
Department of Medicine, ||Department of Biomedical Engineering, and
Program in Genetics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8151
Received for publication, March 8, 2004 , and in revised form, March 15, 2004.
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
IIB
3 integrin. We describe a novel intracellular signaling mechanism involving platelet IQGAP1 that specifically regulates the development of platelet procoagulant activity under conditions of mechanical shear stress. Murine platelets that are deficient in IQGAP1 demonstrate increased prothrombinase activity compared with wild-type littermate controls when activated by a physiological shear stress of 16 dynes/cm2 (shear rates of 1600 s-1) (p < 0.0001), corresponding to
2.5 times the normal shear stress, or
40% degree of stenosis in coronary arteries. The exaggerated prothrombinase activity is not associated with enhanced platelet microvesiculation (cytoskeletal proteolysis) and occurs independently of the intracellular calcium release, [Ca2+]i, but it is specifically coupled to the
-granule exocytic pathway without concomitant effects on aminophospholipid exposure. These observations identify platelet IQGAP1 as an important modulator of normal hemostasis and as an appropriate pharmacological target for control of platelet procoagulant function. | INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
6-log acceleration of
-thrombin generation via the assembly of cell surface prothrombinase (1, 2). The importance of the sudden reversal of this membrane phospholipid in the maintenance of normal hemostasis is best exemplified by Scott's syndrome. This syndrome is a rare bleeding disorder caused by an uncharacterized molecular defect associated with a platelet procoagulant deficiency, which is related to defective membrane PS movement (3). Nonetheless, the aggregatory potential of platelet agonists (mediated by fibrinogen ligation to the conformationally active
IIb
3 integrin) is distinct from that linked to exposure of the aminophospholipids PS and phosphatidylethanolamine. In thrombin-activated human platelets, for example, PS exposure is mediated by protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR1), with little or no contribution from PAR4 (2, 4).
Platelet microvesiculation (generation of platelet microparticles (PMP)) is closely associated with the exposure of anionic PS on the outer surface of the platelet, thereby considerably enhancing the surface area for activation of the coagulation cascade. PMPs can be generated from high shear stress and are able to cross-activate platelets and endothelial cells, and they are elevated in patients with increased thromboembolic risk and in the subsets of those patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (1, 2). A causal role for PMPs in thrombosis, however, has been difficult to establish because platelet microvesiculation is intimately associated with platelet activation and aggregation. Although the molecular basis of microvesiculation remains poorly characterized, it appears to be calcium-dependent, requires cytoskeletal reorganization, is associated with calpain and caspase-3 activation, and is morphologically similar to the membrane blebbing and phospholipid exposure phase of nucleated cell apoptosis (5). The molecular mechanism of PMP generation remains unknown, although the molecular pathway appears to be distinct from that regulating PS exposure or platelet exocytosis and is associated with cytoskeletal proteolysis (1-3).
Mammalian IQGAPs are conserved homologues of an extended family of proteins; their counterparts in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae Iqg1p/Cyk1p) and amoebae (Dictyostelium discoideum DdGAP1) have key roles in actomyosin ring formation and cytokinesis. Two homologous IQGAPs have been identified and characterized, although expression of IQGAP1 appears broad compared with the previously described hepatocyte-restricted distribution of IQGAP2 (6, 7). IQGAPs are multidomain scaffolding proteins that presumably integrate intracellular signals with actin polymerization by interactions with the Rho GTPases rac1 and cdc42 (through Ras-GAP-related homology domains, or GRD), Ca2+/calmodulin (through IQ motifs), and F-actin (through calponin homology domains). Interactions with E-cadherin (8),
-catenin (9), and the microtubular protein CLIP-170 (10) have been described previously, although the in vivo physiological significance of these interactions and the regulatory mechanisms leading to IQGAP activation remain incompletely characterized. Our data now link IQGAP1 to a shear stress-restricted (mechanoreceptor) signaling pathway of platelet activation, specifically regulating the procoagulant properties of the platelet membrane.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Platelet Functional StudiesGel-filtered platelets in HEPES-buffered modified Tyrode's (HBMT) solution (138 mM NaCl, 2.7 mM KCl, 0.4 mM NaH2PO4, 12 mM NaHCO3, 0.2% bovine serum albumin, 0.1% dextrose, and 10 mM HEPES, pH 7.4) were rested at 37 °C for 30 min prior to use and then supplemented with 80 µg/ml human fibrinogen prior to aggregometry (with stirring) using a 4-channel Chronulog aggregometer. Agonists included human
-thrombin (
3500 units/mg; 10-nM
1 unit/ml), PAR4-activating peptide AYPGKF, fibrillar collagen (Hormon-Chemie), or ADP (Sigma). Microspectrofluorimetry was completed in 96-well microtiter plates using a FLEXStation (Molecular Devices). GFP (1 x 107/well) were gently centrifuged (800 x g) into individual wells and loaded with Fluo-3 (Flex reagent, Molecular Devices) for 30 min at 37 °C, and kinetic data were analyzed using Soft-MaxPro software. Results were expressed as means ± S.E. from quadruplicate wells, and statistical significance was determined by Student's t test.
Platelet calmodulin activity assays were determined from platelet-rich plasma prepared in 0.5 µM prostaglandin E1 as described previously (14). In brief, platelets were resuspended at 3 x 108 platelets/ml in 25 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl, and 1 mM CaCl2 and freeze-thawed twice, and supernatants were isolated after centrifugation. Assays were completed in duplicate using calmodulin-dependent chicken gizzard phosphodiesterase for cyclic AMP generation, and determinations were made from the linear portion of the standard curve using pure porcine testis calmodulin as the standard.
Flow Cytometric AnalysesFITC-conjugated anti-mouse CD41 monoclonal antibody (integrin
IIb
3 chain) and FITC-conjugated anti-CD62 (P-selectin) were purchased from Pharmingen. CD41 was used for delineating platelet gates, and debris and dead cells were excluded using scatter gates. PS exposure of intact and microvesiculated platelets was quantified by annexin-V binding. Briefly, appropriately treated platelets were incubated with 0.0125 µg of phycoerythrin-conjugated annexin V in the presence of 2 mM CaCl2 for 30 min at 25 °C in the dark followed by FACScan analysis using logarithmic gain settings for light scatter and fluorescence (BD Biosciences). For all studies, 10,000 gated events were acquired; forward and side scatter and fluorochrome binding were used for delineation and quantification of platelets and platelet-derived microparticles.
Prothrombinase Determinations and Shear ActivationQuantitative assessment of phosphatidylserine exposure was completed using both annexin-V binding (see above) and a modified prothrombinase assay using acetylated prothrombin (15, 16). Acetylated prothrombin retains <0.1% clotting activity (and is thereby defective in platelet activation) but is activable by factor Xa in the presence of platelet factor Va to produce thrombin activity measured by cleavage of the chromogenic substrate tosyl-Gly-Pro-Arg-p-nitroanilide (Chromozym-TH; Roche Applied Science). Briefly, 0.1-ml samples of GFP (4 x 104/µl, subjected to various agonists or exposure to shear stress) in Ca2+-free HBMT were incubated with 200 nM acetylated prothrombin, 5 mM Ca2+, 100 pM factor Xa, and individual agonists for 10 min at 37 °C. Then, duplicate 20-µl aliquots were assayed, using 0.3 mM Chromozyme-TH for thrombin generation, by reading in a microplate reader. All samples were individually normalized to parallel determinations using the same GFP (agonist or shear-exposed) activated with 5 µM ionomycin.
Flow-dependent (shear stress) prothrombinase activities were determined using polytetrafluoroethylene tubing in a circulating flow loop as described previously (16). GFP (2 x 104/µl) were resuspended in 2.3 ml of Ca2+-free HBMT supplemented with 0.1% bovine serum albumin and activated for various times and shear rates at 37 °C, and duplicate 20-µl aliquots were then removed for assays. The result of a single shear loop represents the platelet activation rate, determined by linear regression. The statistical significance of mean platelet activation rates between wild type and mIQGAP1-/- was calculated using a paired Student's t test. For calcium chelation, GFPs were preloaded with 50 µM BAPTA-AM (cell-permeant 5,5'-dimethylacetoxymethyl ester) (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR) for 45 min at 37 °C followed by a second gel filtration step prior to shear activation (or microspectrofluorimetry using 1 nM
-thrombin). For some experiments, determining prothrombinase activity of the microparticle fractions was carried out in parallel using the supernatants of samples centrifuged at 10,000 x g (flow cytometry using FITC-conjugated anti-CD41 confirmed the presence of <2% intact platelets in micro-particulate fractions). Control experiments on uncirculated platelets showed no detectable prothrombinase activity.
| RESULTS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
R-chain receptor tyrosine kinase complex, respectively) and, when evident, were manifest by a more rapid initial slope, with slightly exaggerated amplitudes (data not shown).
|
|
-granules (see below), and (ii) exposure of aminophospholipids, including negatively charged PS. Different platelet agonists cause the extent of PS exposure to vary. For example, ionophores typically effect maximum exposure followed by fibrillar collagen and thrombin; PS exposure is also known to result from mechanical shear stress (22). To further dissect the relationship of the exaggerated [Ca2+]i release in response to PS exposure, platelets were activated by distinct agonists or by mechanical shear, and procoagulant activity was determined using a modified prothrombinase assay that closely parallels PS exposure as quantified by annexin-V binding (15). Consistent with prior observations (2, 4), thrombin and collagen (but not ADP or PAR4 agonist peptide) caused dose-dependent increases in prothrombinase activity, results that were essentially the same for both mIQGAP1-/- and wild-type platelets (Fig. 3a). In sharp contrast, however, mIQGAP1-/- platelets activated by shear stress demonstrated enhanced prothrombinase activity compared with littermate controls (either at 12 or 16 dynes/cm2, equivalent to shear rates of 1200 and 1600 s-1, respectively). This exaggerated procoagulant activity was unrelated to inherent differences in membrane function or phospholipid content because the maximal prothrombinase activities between wild type and mIQGAP1-/- platelets were essentially identical (Fig. 3a). Similarly, there was no evidence that the enhanced procoagulant activity could be explained by inherent differences in microvesiculation as determined by flow cytometric analyses.
|
2.5 times normal shear stress in coronary arteries, or
40% degree of stenosis). Because the prothrombinase measurement of platelet procoagulant activity reflects the composite sum generated from microvesicular and intact platelets (23), parallel determinations were made of the proportion of the total activity derived from platelet microparticles. As shown in Fig. 4, by using larger numbers of mouse platelets activated by moderate shear stress (n = 12 in each arm, with male:female ratios of 1:1), mIQGAP1-/- platelets demonstrated an enhanced ability for prothrombinase generation, differences that were highly significant compared with wild-type controls (p < 0.0001). Although microvesiculation is known to accompany high shear activation, minimal (and essentially comparable) microparticle formation was evident in both mIQGAP1-/- and wild-type platelets activated by low-shear (Fig. 5), consistent with prior observations (22). Moreover, the prothrombinase activity was primarily found in the intact platelets from both groups of mice, with an identical fraction (
26%) accounted for by platelet microparticles. Thus, although IQGAP1 is known to have actin-polymerizing functions that could be involved in the cytoskeletal actin reorganization known to accompany microvesiculation, mIQGAP1 deficiency is uniquely associated with enhanced shear-associated platelet prothrombinase activity, without a concomitant defect in microvesiculation.
|
|
-granule exocytosis). Initially, platelets were incubated with the intracellular calcium chelator BAPTA-AM followed by activation using the identical shear rate of 16 dynes/cm2. Unexpectedly, BAPTA-treated mIQGAP1-/- platelets demonstrated persistently exaggerated procoagulant activity (Fig. 4), despite evidence for effective chelation as established by microspectrofluorimetry after shear activation (data not shown). These results were in sharp contrast to wild-type control platelets, which demonstrated inhibitory effects on the generation of platelet procoagulant activity with calcium chelation.
To more specifically dissect the mechanism for the enhanced prothrombinase generation data, simultaneous determinations quantified annexin-V binding (as a marker for PS exposure) and P-selectin cell surface expression (as a marker for
-granule exocytosis). For both wild-type and mIQGAP1-/- platelets, the distribution of intact platelets, microparticles, and annexin-V binding were essentially identical when platelets were activated by shear rates of 16 dynes/cm2 (Fig. 5). In contrast, mIQGAP1-/- platelets demonstrated a shorter lag phase of P-selectin expression compared with wild-type platelets; these differences were limited to intact platelets with no differences evident in the generation of P-selectin microparticles between both platelet phenotypes. Indeed, the time to half-maximal response (t
) was
5 min for mIQGAP1-/- platelets compared with t
12 min for wild-type controls. This abbreviated lag time in mIQGAP1-/- platelets was not associated with any changes in either maximal P-selectin expression or its expression in platelet microparticles. These observations strongly support a model linking platelet IQGAP1 with a shear-activated, exocytic pathway that specifically regulates platelet prothrombinase complex assembly, which is independent of platelet microvesiculation. Furthermore, despite the fact that maximal
-granule release is essentially identical between wild-type and mIQGAP1-/- platelets by 15 min, mIQGAP1-/- platelets display persistently enhanced procoagulant activity at all subsequent time points (see Fig. 4). These data did not directly quantify cell surface factor V expression as a marker of prothrombinase assembly. Nonetheless, if
-granule-derived factor V secretion parallels that of P-selectin, an extrapolation of these observations suggests that the initial rate of prothrombinase complex assembly represents a major determinant of subsequent thrombin generation over time.
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
-granule release, specifically activated by shear stress.
Regulated platelet exocytosis proceeds through a sequence involving granule docking and fusion, utilizing core SNARE (soluble NSF (N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor) attachment protein receptor)-related molecules that are functional in neuronal secretion and conserved in yeast (28). To date, there is no evidence that IQGAP1 functions within this complex, although the S. cerevisiae Iqg1p homologue is known to interface proteins regulating polarity-dependence with those involved in exocytosis/secretion and cytokinesis (29). Alternatively, IQGAP1 could modulate
-granule secretion by interactions with microtubules or microtubule-associated proteins (known to be important for platelet secretion (28), a prime candidate being CLIP-170 (8)). Recent evidence would suggest that an IQGAP1/CLIP-170 scaffold complexed with [GTP]-bound rac1/cdc42 functions as a link between microtubules and the cortical actin meshwork, thereby providing a calcium-independent, integrated signaling complex that could normally function to negatively regulate the early stages of granule exocytosis.
What is the mechanoreceptor linked to platelet IQGAP1 activation, and how does IQGAP1 become activated during shear stress? Although various studies have delineated key IQGAP1 structural domains mediating biochemical interactions with regulatory proteins in vitro, our data provide the first evidence for a physiological signal (i.e. shear) directly linked to IQGAP1 activation. Previous data have established a role for the von Willebrand factor/GPIb
mechanoreceptor axis in shear-induced conformational activation of
IIb
3, although the role of this agonist-receptor complex (and its signaling pathway) in the generation and assembly of the prothrombinase complex remains incompletely delineated (30). Our shear loop did not include exogenous von Willebrand factor, suggesting that the intracellular signaling pathway occurs independently of von Willebrand factor/GPIb
ligation, although we cannot definitively exclude the possibility of GPIb
activation from endogenous platelet-derived von Willebrand factor. Interestingly, the physical properties of the phospholipid bilayer may be sufficient for shear stress-induced activation of membrane-bound G proteins in the absence of cell surface receptors (31), thereby providing a direct link to IQGAP1 via GTP-charging of rac1 and/or cdc42. Finally, although IQGAP1 specifically modulates the kinetics of prothrombinase assembly, our data also suggest that IQGAP1 deficiency results in progressive procoagulant activity over time, imputing a regulatory role for IQGAP1 in sustaining cell surface thrombin generation. These data implicate IQGAP1 in a fundamental signaling mechanism that regulates platelet procoagulant activity and presumably normal hemostasis; further characterization of this signaling pathway should identify novel targets capable of modulating platelet procoagulant function.
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
¶ To whom correspondence should be addressed: Division of Hematology, Health Sciences Center T15-040, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8151. Tel.: 631-444-2059; Fax: 631-444-7530; E-mail: wbahou{at}notes.cc.sunysb.edu.
1 The abbreviations used are: PS, phosphatidylserine; PAR, protease-activated receptor; PMP, platelet microparticle; mIQGAP, murine IQGAP; GFP, gel-filtered platelet; FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate; HBMT, HEPES-buffered modified Tyrode's solution; BAPTA-AM, cell-permeant 5,5'-dimethylacetoxymethyl ester. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
V. A. Schmidt, C. S. Chiariello, E. Capilla, F. Miller, and W. F. Bahou Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Iqgap2-Deficient Mice Is IQGAP1 Dependent Mol. Cell. Biol., March 1, 2008; 28(5): 1489 - 1502. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. W. Kerrigan, N. S. Jakubovics, C. Keane, P. Maguire, K. Wynne, H. F. Jenkinson, and D. Cox Role of Streptococcus gordonii Surface Proteins SspA/SspB and Hsa in Platelet Function Infect. Immun., December 1, 2007; 75(12): 5740 - 5747. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. J. Hathcock Flow Effects on Coagulation and Thrombosis Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., August 1, 2006; 26(8): 1729 - 1737. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| All ASBMB Journals | Molecular and Cellular Proteomics |
| Journal of Lipid Research | ASBMB Today |