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ObjectiveCurrent antiplatelet strategies to prevent myocardial infarction and stroke are limited by bleeding risk. A better understanding of the roles of distinct platelet-activating pathways is needed. We determined whether platelet activation by 2 key primary activators, thrombin and collagen, plays distinct, redundant, or interacting roles in tail bleeding and carotid thrombosis in mice.Approach and resultsPlatelets from mice deficient for the thrombin receptor protease-activated receptor-4 (Par4) and the collagen receptor glycoprotein VI protein (GPVI) lack responses to thrombin and collagen, respectively. We examined tail bleeding and FeCl3-induced carotid artery occlusion in mice lacking Par4, GPVI, or both. We also examined a series of Par mutants with increasing impairment of thrombin signaling in platelets. Ablation of thrombin signaling alone by Par4 deficiency increased blood loss in the tail bleeding assay and impaired occlusive thrombus formation in the carotid occlusion assay. GPVI deficiency alone had no effect. Superimposing GPVI deficiency on Par4 deficiency markedly increased effect size in both assays. In contrast to complete ablation of thrombin signaling, 9- and 19-fold increases in EC50 for thrombin-induced platelet activation had only modest effects.ConclusionsThe observation that loss of Par4 uncovered large effects of GPVI deficiency implies that Par4 and GPVI made independent, partially redundant contributions to occlusive thrombus formation in the carotid and to hemostatic clot formation in the tail under the experimental conditions examined. At face value, these results suggest that thrombin- and collagen-induced platelet activation can play partially redundant roles, despite important differences in how these agonists are made available to platelets.

The growth factor receptor Kit is involved in hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic development. Mice bearing Kit defects lack mast cells; however, strains bearing different Kit alleles exhibit diverse phenotypes. Herein, we investigated factors underlying differential sensitivity to IgG-mediated arthritis in 2 mast cell-deficient murine lines: [Kit.sup.Wsh/Wsh], which develops robust arthritis, and [Kit.sup.W/Wv], which does not. Reciprocal bone marrow transplantation between [Kit.sup.W/Wv] and [Kit.sup.Wsh/Wsh] mice revealed that arthritis resistance reflects a hematopoietic defect in addition to mast cell deficiency. In [Kit.sup.W/Wv] mice, restoration of susceptibility to IgG-mediated arthritis was neutrophil independent but required IL-1 and the platelet/ megakaryocyte markers NF-E2 and glycoprotein VI. In [Kit.sup.W/Wv] mice, platelets were present in numbers similar to those in WT animals and functionally intact, and transfer of WT platelets did not restore arthritis susceptibility. These data implicated a platelet-independent role for the megakaryocyte, a Kit-dependent lineage that is selectively deficient in [Kit.sup.W/Wv] mice. Megakaryocytes secreted IL-1 directly and as a component of circulating microparticles, which activated synovial fibroblasts in an IL-1-dependent manner. Transfer of WT but not IL-1-deficient megakaryocytes restored arthritis susceptibility to [Kit.sup.W/Wv] mice. These findings identify functional redundancy among Kit-dependent hematopoietic lineages and establish an unanticipated capacity of megakaryocytes to mediate IL-1-driven systemic inflammatory disease., Introduction Mast cells (MCs) were first described as tissue-resident cells that stain brightly with aniline dyes (1). Their highly granular appearance reflects their capacity to release a wide range of [...]

Platelets play a critical role in maintaining vascular integrity during inflammation, but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Here we report that platelet immunoreceptor tyrosine activation motif (ITAM) signaling, but not GPCR signaling, is critical for the prevention of inflammation-induced hemorrhage. To generate mice with partial or complete defects in these signaling pathways, we developed a protocol for adoptive transfer of genetically and/or chemically inhibited platelets into thrombocytopenic (TP) mice. Unexpectedly, platelets with impaired GPCR signaling, a crucial component of platelet plug formation and hemostasis, were indistinguishable from WT platelets in their ability to prevent hemorrhage at sites of inflammation. In contrast, inhibition of GPVI or genetic deletion of Clec2, the only ITAM receptors expressed on mouse platelets, significantly reduced the ability of platelets to prevent inflammation-induced hemorrhage. Moreover, transfusion of platelets without ITAM receptor function or platelets lacking the adapter protein SLP-76 into TP mice had no significant effect on vascular integrity during inflammation. These results indicate that the control of vascular integrity is a major function of immune-type receptors in platelets, highlighting a potential clinical complication of novel antithrombotic agents directed toward the ITAM signaling pathway., Introduction Platelets play an essential role in the prevention of excessive blood loss after injury (hemostasis), but can also form occlusive thrombi at sites of atherosclerotic plaque rupture (thrombosis) (1). [...]

Fetal and neonatal immune thrombocytopenia (FNIT) is a severe bleeding disorder caused by maternal anti-body-mediated destruction of fetal/neonatal platelets. It is the most common cause of severe thrombocytope-nia in neonates, [...]

In addition to their pivotal role in thrombosis and wound repair, platelets participate in inflammatory responses. We investigated the rote of platelets in the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis. We identified platelet microparticles--submicrometer vesicles elaborated by activated platelets--in joint fluid from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of inflammatory arthritis, but not in joint fluid from patients with osteoarthritis. Platelet micropartictes were proinflammatory, eliciting cytokine responses from synovial fibroblasts via interleukin-1. Consistent with these findings, depletion of platelets attenuated murine inflammatory arthritis. Using both pharmacologic and genetic approaches, we identified the collagen receptor glycoprotein VI as a key trigger for platelet microparticte generation in arthritis pathophysiology. Thus, these findings demonstrate a previously unappreciated rote for platelets and their activation-induced microparticles in inflammatory joint diseases. 10.1126/science.1181928

We have identified structural attributes required for signal transduction through a seven-transmembrane-domain receptor. Platelets from a patient (AC) with a congenital bleeding disorder had normal shape change but reduced and reversible aggregation in response to 4 [micro]M ADP, similar to normal platelets with blocked P2[Y.sub.12] receptor. The response to 20 [micro]M ADP, albeit still decreased, was more pronounced and was reduced by a P2[Y.sub.12] antagonist, indicating some residual receptor function. ADP failed to lower the adenylyl cyclase activity stimulated by prostaglandin [E.sub.1] in the patient's platelets, even though the number and affinity of 2-methylthioadenosine 5'-[[sup.33]P]diphosphate-binding sites was normal. Analysis of the patient's P2[Y.sub.12] gene revealed a G-to-A transition in one allele, changing the codon for Arg-256 in the sixth transmembrane domain to Gln, and a C-to-T transition in the other allele, changing the codon for Arg-265 in the third extracellular loop to Trp. Neither mutation interfered with receptor surface expression but both altered function, since ADP inhibited the forskolin-induced increase of cAMP markedly less in cells transfected with either mutant P2[Y.sub.12] as compared with wild-type receptor. These studies delineate a region of P2[Y.sub.12] required for normal function after ADP binding. ADP | platelet function disorder | G-protein coupled receptors | platelet aggregation