Calcium and temperature regulation of the stability of the human platelet integrin GPIIb/IIIa in solution: an analytical ultracentrifugation study

1432-1017

Integrin GPIIb/IIIa ; Platelet fibrinogen receptor ; Ca2+-and temperature-regulation ; Analytical ultracentrifugation

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Biology

Physics

Abstract The human platelet integrin GPIIb/IIIa (228 kDa), a Ca-dependent heterodimer formed by the αIIb subunit (GPIIb, 136 kDa) and the β3 subunit (GPIIIa, 92 kDa), serves as the fibrinogen receptor at the surface of activated platelets. The degree of dissociation of the GPIIb/IIIa heterodimer (s°20 *, 8.9 S) into its constituent glycoproteins (GPIIb, 5.8 S; and GPIIIa, 3.9 S) has been assessed by analytical ultracentrifugation in Triton X100 buffers, and its Ca2+- and temperature-dependence correlated with Ca2+-binding to GPIIb/IIIa and its temperature dependence. At 21°C half-maximal dissociation of GPIIb/IIIa occurs at 5.5 ± 2.5 × 10−8 M Ca2+, very close to the dissociation constant of the high affinity Ca-binding site of GPIIb/IIIa (Kd1 8 ± 3 × 10−8 M) (Rivas and González-Rodríguez, 1991) and much lower than the Kd of the 3.4 medium affinity Ca-binding sites (Kd2 4 ± 1.5 × 10−5 M), which seems to demonstrate that the stability of the heterodimer in solution at room temperature is regulated by the degree of saturation of the high-affinity Ca-binding site. At 4°C, the stability of the heterodimer is apparently Ca2+-independent, while at room and physiological temperatures (15–37°C) the degree of dissociation of the heterodimer is regulated by the degree of dissociation of the high- and medium-affinity Ca-binding sites, respectively. On increasing the Ca2+ concentration up to 1 × 10−4 M after dissociation in Triton X100 solutions, the reconstitution of the GPIIb/IIIa heterodimer depends on the time and temperature at which the dissociated heterodimer was maintained, being almost complete within the first 5–10 min at 37°C and within the first 1–2 h at 21°C. After this time, a time- and temperature-dependent irreversible autoassociation of GPIIb (covalent) and GPIIIa (non-covalent) occurs, which hinders both the isolation of permanently stable monoamers of GPIIb and GPIIIa and the reconstitution of the GPIIb/IIIa heterodimer in Triton X100 solutions.

Electronic Resource