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Biomedical subjects

H J Weiss

Publications and source records attributed to H J Weiss.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Human platelets deficient in dense granules contain normal amounts of pp60c-src.

We have determined that pp60c-src, a protein tyrosine kinase abundant in normal platelets, is present at comparable levels in platelets that are deficient in dense granules (Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome). Relative quantitation of pp60c-src was performed by immunoblot analysis after protein separation by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Our data suggest that human platelet dense granules, unlike chromaffin cell secretory granules, are not the major intracellular site of localization of pp60c-src.

Albinism, Oculocutaneous

Decreased content and surface expression of alpha-granule membrane protein GMP-140 in one of two types of platelet alpha delta storage pool deficiency.

To determine whether alpha-granule membranes are present in platelets of patients with storage pool deficiencies of both alpha and dense granules (alpha delta-SPD), we examined the content and surface expression of the alpha-granule membrane protein GMP-140 in one patient (J.C.) with a severe alpha-granule deficiency and in three members of a family (family C) with milder alpha-granule deficiencies. Surface expression of GMP-140 in stimulated platelets, assessed by flow cytometric measurements of the binding of two anti-GMP-140 monoclonal antibodies, was 24-38% of normal values in platelets from patient J.C., vs. 60-95% of normal values in family C. Total platelet content of GMP-140, determined in platelet lysates by antigen-capture ELISA, was 49% of normal in patient J.C., but normal in the members of family C. Platelets of patient J.C. were found to be heterogeneous with respect to GMP-140 content and surface expression by both flow cytometry and immunogold electron microscopy. Approximately 80% of her platelets expressed little or no GMP-140 after stimulation, whereas the remaining 20% expressed normal amounts of GMP-140 and showed extensive immunogold labeling of typical alpha-granules and clear vacuoles. No such heterogeneity was found in platelets from family C. These findings in the severe alpha delta-SPD patient are in clear contrast to the observations of normal GMP-140 content in the three other alpha delta-SPD patients, and in patients with the gray platelet syndrome, reported previously by others. These results illustrate the phenotypic heterogeneity of alpha-granule deficiencies in human platelets, and suggest that a defect in granule formation in the megakaryocytes may account for the alpha-granule defect in at least one form of alpha delta-SPD.

Adult

Isolated deficiency of platelet procoagulant activity.

This is a study of a 34 year old woman with a moderate to severe bleeding disorder in whom impaired platelet procoagulant activity (PPA) was found by several methods, including tests of factor 3 availability (PF-3a), prothrombin consumption and contact activation. No deficiencies of platelet adhesion, aggregation, secretion, metabolism or granule-bound substances were detectable. Under adequate platelet coverage, this woman underwent two surgical procedures without difficulty. These findings demonstrate the role of PPA in hemostasis and indicate that a defect in PPA can be an isolated occurrence. The abnormalities in PF-3a found in this patient could be due to the diminished number of factor V binding sites, resulting in impaired factor Xa binding, found in separate studies by Majerus et al.

Adult

Prostacyclin (prostaglandin I2, PGI2) inhibits platelet adhesion and thrombus formation on subendothelium.

Prostaglandin I2 (prostacyclin, PGI2), a substance synthesized in the wall of blood vessels, has been previously shown to inhibit the aggregation of platelets in stirred platelet-rich plasma. We used a method in which segments of deendothelialized rabbit aorta are perfused at arterial shear rates with human blood and found that both platelet adhesion and thrombus formation on subendothelium was inhibited in blood containing 10 nM PGI2. PGI2 appears to reduce adhesion by inhibiting platelet spreading. These findings suggest that PGI2 could regulate the deposition of platelets on vascular surfaces.

Animals

Platelet membrane glycoproteins in thrombasthenia, Bernard-Soulier syndrome, and storage pool disease.

Quantitative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis has been carried out on patients with Bernard-Soulier syndrome, Glanzmann's thrombasthenia, and storage pool defect in order to clarify the abnormalities in their platelet membrane glycoproteins. Normal individuals had values (expressed as PAS staining units/mg of membrane protein) of 5.11 +/- 0.63 for glycoprotein 1 (Mr 150,000), 2.35 +/- 0.35 for glycoprotein II (Mr 120,000), 0.89 +/- 0.22 for glycoprotein III (Mr 100,000), and 1.34 +/- 0.64 for glycoprotein IV (Mr 85,000). Total PAS staining of these four major bands was 9.70 +/- 1.26 PAS units/mg of membane protein. Patients with Bernard-Soulier syndrome completely lacked glycocalicin and had about one half (1.90 PAS units/mg) of the glycoprotein I of normal controls. These was no significant reduction in glycoproteins II, III, and IV, but total PASstaining was reduced to 4.40 units/mg, reflecting the importance of the contribution of glycoprotein I to this parameter. Thrombasthenic platelets gave values for glycoprotein II of 0.66, which were about 25% of controls, and the values for glycoprotein III (0.34) were about 40% of controls. Patients with storage pool disease gave values within the normal range with the exception of one family which showed, in addition, small platelets and an associated lipid defect. In thic case of glycoprotein (2.71) was significantly elevated.

Blood Platelet Disorders

Dissociation of factor VIII in the presence of proteolytic inhibitors.

When gel filtration of factor VIII is performed with buffers of high ionic strength (1.0 M NaCl or 0.25 M CaCl2), the procoagulant activity elutes with proteins of relatively low molecular weight. It has been suggested that in the presence of proteolytic inhibitors, the procoagulant activity would appear at the void volume. To test this hypothesis, chromatography with buffers of high ionic strength was performed in the presence of benzamidine hydrochloride, soy bean trypsin inhibitor, heparin, DFP, and aprotinin. Under all of these conditions, the procoagulant activity continued to elute with proteins of low molecular weight. Similar findings were obtained after chromatographing cryoprecipitate prepared from the plasma of a normal subject who had received heparin. Thus, at present there is no direct evidence to suggest that proteolysis is involved in the dissociation of factor VIII by buffers of high ionic strength.

Aprotinin

Effect of shear rate on platelet interaction with subendothelium in citrated and native blood. I. Shear rate--dependent decrease of adhesion in von Willebrand's disease and the Bernard-Soulier syndrome.

Previous studies have demonstrated impaired adhesion of platelets to the subendothelium in von Willebrand's disease. These studies were performed by circulating (in a closed system) citrated whole blood through a chamber containing everted segments of rabbit aorta from which the endothelium had been removed by balloon catheter. The average wall shear rate was 800 sec-1, and the perfusion time was 10 min. In the present study we measured the interaction of platelets with subendothelium in native (nonanticoagulated) blood, using a recently described technique in which the vessel segments are perfused with directly sampled venous blood. The system was open; that is, the blood was not recirculated. We used blood flow rates of 20, 40, and 50 ml/min, which correspond to calculated shear rates of 1300, 2600, and 3300 sec-1 and perfusion times of 3, 2, and 2 min, respectively. For comparison, parallel studies at 1300 sec-1 were also obtained with citrated blood. In normal subjects, at a shear rate of 1300 sec-1, platelet adhesion was less in native blood than in citrated blood, but thrombus formation was greater. Platelet adhesion in five patients with von Willebrand's disease was decreased in both citrated and native blood. The magnitude of the adhesion defect was strongly dependent on the shear rate. Thus, in citrated blood studied at a shear rate of 1300 sec-1, adhesion was 75% less than in normal subjects, whereas in previous studies at 800 sec-1 the reduction in adhesion was 29%. In native blood, adhesion in von Willebrand's disease was normal at a shear rate of 1300 sec-1, whereas 53% and 77% reductions in adhesion were obtained at shear rates of 2600 and 3300 sec-1, respectively. The latter shear rates studied, adhesion of platelets in native blood was also decreased in the Bernard-Soulier syndrome but was normal in hemophilia and afibrinogenemia. Our findings with native blood provide further evidence that impaired adhesion of platelets to the vessel wall accounts for the hemostatic defect in von Willebrand's disease. In addition, this adhesion defect is shear rate-dependent.

Adolescent

Phylogenetic studies with pemphigus and pemphigoid antibodies.

Indirect immunofluorescence (IF) studies were performed on skin from a variety of vertebrate specimens and IgG fractions from pemphigoid and pemphigus sera. Pemphigoid antigen was present in fish, amphibian, reptilian, avian and mammalian skin, whereas pemphigus antigen was observed in avian and mammalian skin only.

Animals

Platelet interaction with collagen fibrils in flowing blood. II. Impaired adhesion-aggregation in bleeding disorders. A comparison with subendothelium.

Anticoagulated whole blood from patients and control subjects was circulated through an annular perfusion chamber in which the fibrillar collagen of alpha chymotrypsin-digested subendothelium and intact subendothelium were exposed. The blood flow conditions corresponded to those in arteries (830 sec-1 wall shear rate). Platelet surface interaction was measured morphometrically. Decreased adhesion to fibrillar collagen associated with normal spreading and normal adhesion-induced formation of platelet thrombi was found with blood of patients with von Willebrand's disease and the Bernard Soulier Syndrome, indicating a defect in the initial attachment reaction of platelets with collagen. Platelets of patients with thrombasthenia did normally adhere to the collagen fibrils and also lost their subcellular organelles during this reaction, but they totally failed to adhere to each other. In storage pool disease platelet thrombus formation was consistently inhibited whereas adhesion and spreading was inhibited in some patients and normal in others. In contrast adhesion was always normal after ingestion of aspirin which consistently caused a marked inhibition of platelet thrombi. These findings correspond -- in essence -- to those previously described on intact subendothelium. However, the observed defects are more pronounced on the fibrillar collagen than on intact subendothelium.

Animals