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Biomedical subjects

J D Hellums

Publications and source records attributed to J D Hellums.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Shear stress-induced von Willebrand factor binding to platelet glycoprotein Ib initiates calcium influx associated with aggregation.

Platelets subjected to elevated levels of fluid shear stress in the absence of exogenous agonists will aggregate. Shear stress-induced aggregation requires von Willebrand factor (vWF) multimers, extracellular calcium (Ca2+), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and platelet membrane glycoprotein (GP)Ib and GPIIb-IIIa. The sequence of interaction of vWF multimers with platelet surface receptors and the effect of these interactions on platelet activation have not been determined. To elucidate the mechanism of shear stress-induced platelet aggregation, suspensions of washed platelets were subjected to different levels of uniform shear stress (15 to 120 dyne/cm2) in an optically modified cone and plate viscometer. Cytoplasmic ionized calcium ([Ca2+]i) and aggregation of platelets were monitored simultaneously during the application of shear stress; [Ca2+]i was measured using indo-1 loaded platelets and aggregation was measured as changes in light transmission. Basal [Ca2+]i was approximately 60 to 100 nmol/L. An increase of [Ca2+]i (up to greater than 1,000 nmol/L) was accompanied by synchronous aggregation, and both responses were dependent on the shear force and the presence of vWF multimers. EGTA chelation of extracellular Ca2+ completely inhibited vWF-mediated [Ca2+]i and aggregation responses to shear stress. Aurin tricarboxylic acid, which blocks the GPIb recognition site on the vWF monomer, and 6D1, a monoclonal antibody to GPIb, also completely inhibited platelet responses to shear stress. The tetrapeptide RGDS and the monoclonal antibody 10E5, which inhibit vWF binding to GPIIb-IIIa, partially inhibited shear stress-induced [Ca2+]i and aggregation responses. The combination of creatine phosphate/creatine phosphokinase, which converts ADP to adenosine triphosphate and blocks the effect of ADP released from stimulated platelets, inhibited shear stress-induced platelet aggregation without affecting the increase of [Ca2+]i. Neither the [Ca2+]i nor aggregation response to shear stress was inhibited by blocking platelet cyclooxygenase metabolism with acetylsalicylic acid. These results indicate that GPIb and extracellular Ca2+ are absolutely required for vWF-mediated [Ca2+]i and aggregation responses to imposed shear stress, and that the interaction of vWF multimers with GPIIb-IIIa potentiates these responses. Shear stress-induced elevation of platelet [Ca2+]i, but not aggregation, is independent of the effects of release ADP, and both responses occur independently of platelet cyclooxygenase metabolism. These results suggest that shear stress induces the binding of vWF multimers to platelet GPIb and this vWF-GPIb interaction causes an increase of [Ca2+]i and platelet aggregation, both of which are potentiated by vWF binding to the platelet GPIIb-IIIa complex.

Adenosine Diphosphate

Platelet lysis and aggregation in shear fields.

A rotational viscometer was used to study the effects of shear stress on platelets in human platelet-rich plasma (PRP). For 5-min exposure times, shear stresses above 160 dynes/cm2 induced platelet lysis (as determined by release of platelet lactic dehydrogenase). For 30-s exposure times, shear stresses greater than 600 dynes/cm2 were required to induce platelet lysis. The platelet counts of sheared PRP were decreased to as low as one-fifth the original count due largely to shear-induced aggregation. The count is a minimum at intermediate stress levels (200-400 dynes/cm2). Higher stresses induce disaggregation as well as lysis. The diminution in the counts was partially reversed in 2 h incubation after cessation of shearing. Experiments were carried out with three different viscometer configurations so that the shear stress and the solid surface area access could be varied independently. Surface access was not a significant variable in the conditions of the experiments. Thus aggregation and lysis may be induced by stress effects alone as well as by solid surface effects. The results also show that the response of platelets to shear stress is strongly dependent on exposure time. Platelets are much less resistant to shear stress than red cells for relatively long exposure times. However, the converse is true for very short exposure times.

Blood Platelets

Fragility of abnormal erythrocytes evaluated by response to shear stress.

Shear stress is a potential cause of erythrocyte fragmentation and hemolysis in flowing blood. In this study, the response of abnormal human erythrocytes to shear stress in virto was evaluated using a concentric cylinder viscometer. Compared to normal red cells, deoxygenated erythrocytes from persons with sicle cell anemia were particularly susceptible to fragmentation and hemolysis by shear stress. Oxygenation of sicke cell blood improved the resistance of those red cells to shear stress; they remain, however, more susceptible to shear stress than normal erythrocytes. Erythrocytes from patients with iron deficiency, thalassemia minor, and erythrocyte pyruvate kinase deficiency showed fragmentation and hemolysis at threshold shear stresses intermediate between those ovserved for blood from patients with sickle cell anemia and normal persons. Blood samples from patients with hereditary spherocytosis were more resistant to shear stress than normal blood. These results indicate that there are important differences in the response of various red cells to shear stress.

Anemia, Hypochromic

Morphological, biochemical, and functional changes in human platelets subjected to shear stress.

Thromboembolic complications associated with cardiovascular prostheses are thought to result from activation of coagulation factors or platelets by surface contact and/or by certain physical forces generated at the interface between the foreign material and blood. Studies of the effects on human platelets of one of these physical forces, shear stress, were made. A rotational viscometer was used to apply graded levels of shear stress to platelet-rich plasma. Very low shear stress (50 dynes per square centimeter) resulted in the liberation of small amounts of ATP, ADP, and serotonin and subsequent platelet aggregation. Stresses of 100 dynes per square centimeter or more resulted in the appearance in plasma of nonstorage nucleotides, indicating cell lysis, and shear stresses of 250 dynes per square centimeter or more resulted in the fragmentation of platelets. Shear-induced platelet aggregation was partially reversible but only those samples subjected to low levels of shear stress recovered their ability to aggregate to the subsequent addition of ADP. These studies indicate that platelets are extremely sensitive to shear stress and raise the possibility that thrombus formation and/or accelerated platelet turnover in patients with rheumatic valvular disease or who possess artificial heart valves or other cardiac prosthetic devices could result from the effects of this physical force on circulating platelets.

Adenosine Diphosphate