Isolation of human platelets from plasma by centrifugation and washing.
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Adenine Nucleotides↗
Biomedical subjects
M A Packham
Publications and source records attributed to M A Packham.
Association of fibrinogen with human platelets pretreated with chymotrypsin or aggregated with ADP or thrombin: an immunocytochemical study.
Although platelets can be induced to aggregate in the absence of external fibrinogen, the response is greatly potentiated by fibrinogen and fibrinogen becomes associated with the surface of stimulated platelets. We compared the aggregation response and association of fibrinogen with the surface of platelets aggregated by ADP or thrombin, and of chymotrypsin-treated platelets aggregated by fibrinogen. The association of fibrinogen with the surface of the platelets was visualized using an electron microscope immunocytochemical method. The aggregation response and the pattern of fibrinogen association was different with each of the three agonists studied. ADP-induced aggregation was associated with pseudopod formation and fibrinogen binding; granule contents were not released and aggregation and fibrinogen binding were reversible. Thrombin-induced aggregation was associated with extensive pseudopod formation and the release of granule contents, but platelet-to-platelet adherence did not appear to involve fibrinogen binding at sites remote from regions of granule discharge; disaggregation did not occur, and visible fibrin did not form rapidly in the absence of added fibrinogen. Fibrinogen-induced aggregation/agglutination of chymotrypsin-treated platelets was similar to ADP-induced aggregation in that fibrinogen binding was required and granule contents were not released; it differed from ADP-induced aggregation in that pseudopod formation did not occur and the aggregates were irreversible. Fibrinogen-induced aggregation of chymotrypsin-treated platelets differed from thrombin-induced aggregation of untreated platelets in every respect except irreversibility. Thus neither pseudopod formation, fibrinogen binding nor the release of granule contents is essential for platelet-to-platelet adherence, although one or other or all may occur in association with it. If platelets are not stimulated to release their granule contents, fibrinogen binding appears to be necessary for extensive platelet aggregation.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Conditions affecting the responses of human platelets to epinephrine.
Conditions affecting the responses of human platelets to epinephrine were examined. In platelet-rich plasma prepared from blood anticoagulated with hirudin or PPACK (D-phenylalanyl-L-prolyl-L-arginine chloromethyl ketone), epinephrine did not cause shape change or aggregation. In a Tyrode-albumin-apyrase solution containing a concentration of Ca2+ in the physiological range, and fibrinogen, epinephrine in concentrations as high as 40 microM did not induce platelet shape change, caused either no primary aggregation or very slight primary aggregation, and did not induce thromboxane formation, release of dense granule contents, or secondary aggregation. In contrast, in citrated platelet-rich plasma, epinephrine induced two phases of aggregation. This is not attributable to the generation of traces of thrombin since the same effects were evident when blood was taken into a combined citrate-hirudin anticoagulant or a combined citrate-PPACK anticoagulant. In a modified Tyrode-albumin-apyrase solution containing approximately 20 microM Ca2+, 1 mM Mg2+, and fibrinogen, epinephrine induced extensive aggregation after a lag phase, but no primary phase was evident; thromboxane formation and release of dense granule contents accompanied the aggregation response. These responses were also observed when PPACK was included with the acid-citrate-dextrose anticoagulant, and in the washing and resuspending fluids. In the presence of aspirin or the thromboxane receptor blocker BM 13,177 a few small aggregates were detected by particle counting and by scanning electron microscopy; with the latter inhibitor, the platelets in the aggregates retained their disc shape; secondary aggregation and the responses associated with it did not occur.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Effects of ethanol on pathways of platelet aggregation in vitro.
Ethanol, at physiologically tolerable concentrations, did not affect the primary phase of ADP-induced aggregation of human or rabbit platelets, which is not associated with the secretion of granule contents. Potentiation by epinephrine of the primary phase of ADP-induced aggregation of rabbit platelets was also not inhibited by ethanol. However, ethanol did inhibit the secondary phase of ADP-induced aggregation which occurs with human platelets in citrated platelet-rich plasma and is dependent on the formation of thromboxane A2. Inhibition by ethanol of thromboxane production by stimulated platelets is likely due to inhibition of the mobilization of arachidonic acid from membrane phospholipids, as ethanol had little or no effect on aggregation and secretion induced by arachidonic acid or the thromboxane mimetic U46619. Rabbit platelet aggregation and secretion in response to low concentrations of collagen, thrombin, or PAF were inhibited by ethanol. Inhibition of the effects of thrombin and PAF was also observed with aspirin-treated platelets. Thus, in addition to inhibiting the mobilization of arachidonate for thromboxane formation that occurs with most agonists, ethanol can also inhibit aggregation and secretion through other effects on platelet responses.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Expression of fibrinogen on the surface of ADP-stimulated platelets: comparison of human and rabbit platelets.
Fibrinogen is a cofactor in the aggregation of human platelets and must be added to suspensions of washed human platelets for extensive aggregation to occur in response to ADP. Although the patterns of fibrinogen binding and dissociation during platelet aggregation and deaggregation are similar for human and rabbit platelets, washed rabbit platelets aggregate extensively when stimulated with ADP even in the absence of added fibrinogen. To determine whether secreted fibrinogen was present on the surface of ADP-stimulated platelets and available to support aggregation, the binding of 125I-F(ab')2 fragments of anti-fibrinogen antibodies to formaldehyde-fixed platelets was measured. Although no fibrinogen was detected on human platelets either before or after treatment with ADP, fibrinogen was expressed on the surface of rabbit platelets after stimulation with ADP. However, this secreted fibrinogen did not dissociate during deaggregation of the platelets. Thus, the aggregation of rabbit platelets in the absence of exogenous fibrinogen may be supported by secreted fibrinogen, but a fibrinogen-independent component has not been completely ruled out.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Thrombin-induced inositol trisphosphate production by rabbit platelets is inhibited by ethanol.
Ethanol has an inhibitory effect on some platelet functions, but the mechanisms by which it exerts this effect are not known. Using suspensions of washed platelets, we observed that ethanol (1-9 mg/ml) did not affect the aggregation of rabbit platelets stimulated with ADP (0.5-10 microM). When platelets were prelabelled with 5-hydroxy[14C]tryptamine, aggregation and secretion of granule contents in response to thrombin (0.01-0.10 unit/ml) were not inhibited by ethanol, but these responses to thrombin at lower concentrations (less than 0.01 unit/ml) were inhibited by ethanol (2-4 mg/ml). Platelets were prelabelled with [3H]inositol so that increases in inositol phosphates upon stimulation could be assessed by measuring the amount of label in these compounds. ADP-induced increases in IP (inositol phosphate) and IP2 (inositol bisphosphate) were not affected by ethanol. IP3 (inositol trisphosphate) was not changed by ADP or ethanol. Although ethanol did not affect the increases in IP, IP2 and IP3 caused by stimulation of platelets with thrombin at concentrations greater than 0.01 unit/ml, ethanol did inhibit the increases observed at 2 and 3 min in these inositol phosphates caused by lower concentrations of thrombin (less than 0.01 unit/ml). Since ADP did not cause formation of IP3 in rabbit platelets, and since no thromboxane B2 was detected in platelets stimulated with the lower concentrations of thrombin, it is unlikely that the inhibitory effect of ethanol in IP3 formation was due to effects on further stimulation of platelets by released ADP or by thromboxane A2. Ethanol may inhibit platelet responses to thrombin by inhibiting the production of the second messenger, IP3.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Aggregation-related association of lipid with the cytoskeleton of rabbit and human platelets prelabeled with [3H]palmitic acid. Similar effects of adenosine diphosphate- and thrombin-induced aggregation.
To investigate the association of lipid with the cytoskeleton of platelets during aggregation, rabbit and human platelets were isolated and labeled with [3H]palmitic acid; lipid extraction showed approximately 80% in phospholipid. Limited aggregation was induced with ADP or thrombin, and the cytoskeleton was isolated after lysis with 1% Triton X-100, 5 mM EGTA. Cytoskeleton from unactivated platelets had approximately 0.03% of the total label in the platelets, but after aggregation with ADP (2 microM) or thrombin (0.1 U/ml) for 20-30 s, 1.5-8% of the label was with the cytoskeleton. Fibrinogen enhanced aggregation and the association of label with the cytoskeleton; incorporation of label increased exponentially as aggregation proceeded, decreased exponentially during deaggregation, and appeared to be related to the number of sites of contact. Inhibitors that increase cyclic AMP inhibited aggregation and cytoskeletal labeling, but aspirin had no effect. Some experiments were done with DNase I and Ca2+ in the Triton X-100 lysis medium to cause actin depolymerization, under conditions in which the Ca2+-dependent protease activity was inhibited. This greatly reduced the association of label with the cytoskeleton at early time points, but when aggregation had proceeded further, a large proportion of the label was not dissociated by this treatment. These findings, electron microscopy, and the enrichment of the cytoskeleton of aggregated platelets with only some of the membrane proteins that were labeled by the 125I-lactoperoxidase method, indicated that with limited aggregation, the 3H-labeled lipid was mainly associated with the cytoskeleton and not with trapped membrane fragments resulting from incomplete lysis. Since the pattern of cytoskeleton labeling ([3H]palmitate) and the selective association of some membrane proteins with the cytoskeleton/lipid complex was the same with ADP and thrombin, the reactions must be dependent on aggregation and not on events associated with the release of granule contents.
Actin Cytoskeleton↗
The behavior of platelets at foreign surfaces.
Many conditions affect the interaction of platelets with foreign surfaces, including the type of surface, modifications of the surface, conditions of blood flow, the adsorbed layer of plasma proteins, changes in this protein layer with time, and the animal species in which experiments are done. Platelets probably never adhere directly to a foreign surface in vivo, because upon exposure of the surface to blood, plasma proteins, principally fibrinogen, are adsorbed almost immediately. When platelets adhere to such a surface and spread on it, they are activated in much the same way as when they are exposed to a strong aggregating and release-inducing agent, but in contrast to aggregation caused by some agonists, adhesion is not dependent on the formation of TXA2 or the release of ADP. It does appear to depend on external Ca2+. Much less is known about the initial adhesion reaction than about platelet aggregation (thrombus formation) on the adherent platelets, although the morphological changes resulting from adhesion have been described. It is surmised that the metabolic and cytoskeletal changes upon adhesion are similar to those that are involved in the response of platelets to other activating agents. The consequences of adhesion include the formation of thrombi and thromboemboli, thrombocytopenia, reduced platelet survival, reduced platelet function in response to hemostatic stimuli, and the appearance in the circulation of products released or formed by activated platelets. Many efforts are being made to develop surfaces and to set up conditions that will minimize platelet adhesion, but it has not yet been possible to find a foreign surface that has and can maintain the nonthrombogenic characteristics of the normal endothelium.
Animals↗
Immunocytochemical localization of fibrinogen on washed human platelets. Lack of requirement for fibrinogen during adenosine diphosphate-induced responses and enhanced fibrinogen binding in a medium with low calcium levels.
The association of fibrinogen with washed human platelets was examined by immunocytochemistry during aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and during deaggregation. The platelets were suspended either in a medium containing 2 mmol/L Ca2+ or in a medium containing no added Ca2+ (20 mumol/L Ca2+). Platelets were fixed at several times during aggregation and deaggregation, embedded in Lowicryl K4M, sectioned, incubated with goat antihuman fibrinogen, washed, reacted with gold-labeled antigoat IgG, and prepared for electron microscopy. To determine whether the method detected fibrinogen associated with the platelets, the platelets were pretreated with chymotrypsin (10 U/mL) and aggregated by fibrinogen; gold particles were apparent not only in the alpha granules but on the platelet surface and between adherent platelets as well. In the medium with 2 mmol/L Ca2+, ADP caused extensive aggregation of normal platelets in the presence of fibrinogen (0.4 mg/mL), and gold particles were evident between the adherent platelets and on the platelet surface; when the platelets deaggregated, gold was no longer present on the surface. In a medium without added Ca2+, ADP caused extensive aggregation in the presence of fibrinogen, and large numbers of gold particles were on the platelet surface and even more between adherent platelets. In this medium, the platelets did not deaggregate, and by five minutes, the granules appeared to be swollen or fused. In the absence of external fibrinogen, ADP caused the formation of small aggregates, and fibrinogen was not detected between adherent platelets. Thus, the association of fibrinogen with the platelet surface enhances platelet aggregation but is not essential for the ADP-induced formation of small aggregates. The association of fibrinogen with platelets is greater under conditions in which platelets release their granule contents and do not deaggregate because both endogenous and exogenous fibrinogen take part in aggregation.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
The role of platelets in the early and late stages of atherosclerosis and its clinical complications.
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Arteriosclerosis↗
Effects of the cell adhesion peptide, Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser, on responses of washed platelets from humans, rabbits, and rats.
Fibrinogen is a cofactor in the aggregation of human platelets, and is required for ADP-induced aggregation of washed platelets; however, exogenous fibrinogen is not required for ADP-induced aggregation of washed platelets from rabbits or rats. Because with human platelets the cell adhesion peptide, Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS), inhibits aggregation and the binding of 125I-fibrinogen to ADP-stimulated platelets, its effects on rabbit and rat platelets were studied to investigate the differences in the fibrinogen requirements of platelets from the three species. RGDS (50 mumol/L) caused greater than 80% inhibition of thrombin-induced or (ADP + fibrinogen)-induced aggregation of human platelets, but only 3% to 9% inhibition of the aggregation of rabbit or rat platelets, regardless of whether fibrinogen was added. RGDS inhibited the binding of 125I-fibrinogen to ADP-stimulated human platelets by 80% to 90%, but by only 15% to 27% in the case of rabbit or rat platelets. The differences were due to the species of platelets, since human and rabbit fibrinogens gave similar results. In addition, RGDS failed to displace fibrinogen from the surface of rabbit platelets that had been stimulated with ADP. Thus, there are species differences in the ability of the cell adhesion peptide, RGDS, to block the platelet fibrinogen receptor, even within the mammalian species.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Immunocytochemical localization of fibrinogen during thrombin-induced aggregation of washed human platelets.
Because thrombin aggregates afibrinogenemic platelets and platelets from patients with the gray platelet syndrome and because antibodies to fibrinogen inhibit thrombin-induced aggregation only at low concentrations of thrombin, the role of fibrinogen in the formation of thrombin-induced aggregates was investigated further with human platelets washed and resuspended in Tyrode-albumin solution containing apyrase, either with or without added Ca2+ (2 mmol/L). Samples for immunocytochemical assessment of fibrinogen distribution were taken at several times (up to five minutes) after aggregation induced by 0.5 U/mL of thrombin. Glutaraldehyde-fixed samples were embedded in Lowicryl K4M, sectioned, incubated with goat antihuman fibrinogen, washed, reacted with gold-labeled antigoat IgG, and prepared for electron microscopy. By 10 seconds, small aggregates formed, and granules were centralized; alpha granules were heavily labeled with immunogold, but the platelet surface was not. As large aggregates formed, granule swelling or fusion occurred, and in some areas granule material seemed to be in contact with the exterior. In these experiments with no added fibrinogen, there were some clusters of gold particles on the platelet surfaces remote from sites of granule discharge, but there were large areas where platelets were in close contact with little or no fibrinogen detectable between them. No fibrin was visible up to five minutes after the addition of thrombin, which indicated that fibrinogen from the granules does not readily become available for fibrin formation in the ambient fluid. Similar results were obtained in media with and without added Ca2+. Thus at least some aggregation in response to thrombin can occur without the participation of released fibrinogen, and much of the granule fibrinogen appears to remain localized at sites where granules fuse with the plasma membrane or the open canalicular system. Incubation of unstirred samples with thrombin for ten minutes resulted in the formation of small aggregates, extensive gold label in regions connected to the exterior of the platelets, but very little gold labeling of the platelet membrane and no visible fibrin formation. When the platelets were aggregated in the presence of external fibrinogen, the morphological changes within the platelets were the same, but fibrinogen rapidly became associated with the entire platelet surface, and visible fibrin formed within 30 seconds in the medium containing 2 mmol/L Ca2+.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Blood Platelets↗
Effects of ethanol on rabbit platelet responses to collagen in vitro and ex vivo and on platelet adhesion to de-endothelialized aortae in vivo.
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Animals↗
Platelet activation--an overview.
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Animals↗
Thrombogenic and nonthrombogenic biological surfaces.
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Animals↗
Fibrinogen-independent aggregation and deaggregation of human platelets: studies in two afibrinogenemic patients.
Platelets from two afibrinogenemic patients were used to determine whether fibrinogen is essential for platelet aggregation and to examine whether released fibrinogen contributes to the stabilization of platelet aggregates when platelets have been induced to aggregate and release their granule contents by stimulation with thrombin. The addition of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or to suspensions of washed platelets from the afibrinogenemic patients caused the formation of small aggregates, which was either not inhibited or only slightly inhibited by the F(ab')2 fragments of an antibody to fibrinogen but was inhibited by an antibody (10E5) to glycoprotein IIb/IIIa. Thus there is a component of ADP-induced platelet aggregation that is not dependent on fibrinogen or other plasma proteins but is dependent on glycoprotein IIb/IIIa. There was little difference in the extent of aggregation and the release of granule contents of normal and afibrinogenemic platelets in response to the release-inducing agents collagen, platelet-activating factor (PAF), sodium arachidonate, or thrombin. With normal or afibrinogenemic platelets, aggregation by thrombin (0.2 U/mL or higher) was not inhibited by the F(ab')2 fragments of an antibody to human fibrinogen. Deaggregation by combinations of inhibitors of platelets aggregated by 1 U/mL thrombin showed no difference between platelets from afibrinogenemic and control subjects, indicating that released fibrinogen does not make a major contribution to the stabilization of platelet aggregates formed by thrombin stimulation.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Effect of calcium ion concentration on the ability of fibrinogen and von Willebrand factor to support the ADP-induced aggregation of human platelets.
To investigate the suggestion that von Willebrand factor (vWf) can substitute for fibrinogen in supporting ADP-induced aggregation of human platelets, we studied platelet reactions in two media: (1) a high calcium medium, Tyrode-albumin solution containing calcium ions in the physiological range of 2 mmol/L, and (2) a low calcium medium, modified Tyrode-albumin solution from which calcium salt was omitted (calcium ion concentration approximately 20 mumol/L). In the high calcium medium vWf even at concentrations up to six times as high as physiological, showed little or no potentiation of ADP-induced platelet aggregation, whereas fibrinogen strongly potentiated reversible aggregation without thromboxane formation or release of granule contents. In the low calcium medium, either vWf or fibrinogen supported biphasic aggregation in response to ADP, with thromboxane formation and release of granule contents. Aspirin and the thromboxane receptor blocker BM 13.177 inhibited these secondary responses to von Willebrand factor, indicating that they require thromboxane A2 formation and feedback amplification by thromboxane A2. A monoclonal antibody, 10E5, to the platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa complex inhibited both primary and secondary aggregation. Although vWf supports ADP-induced aggregation when the concentration of ionized calcium is in the micromolar range, it does not support ADP-induced aggregation in the presence of a concentration of ionized calcium in the physiological range, indicating that vWf probably cannot substitute for fibrinogen in supporting ADP-induced aggregation in vivo.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Thromboxane A2 causes feedback amplification involving extensive thromboxane A2 formation on close contact of human platelets in media with a low concentration of ionized calcium.
Close platelet-to-platelet contact induced by weak agonists in a medium with a low concentration of Ca2+ leads to thromboxane A2 (TXA2) formation, release of granule contents, and secondary aggregation. These responses do not occur in a medium containing Ca2+ in the physiological range (1 to 2 mmol/L). Experiments were done to determine whether feedback amplification is required to generate amounts of TXA2 that are sufficient to cause secondary aggregation and the reactions associated with it, or whether close platelet-to-platelet contact alone is sufficient to generate enough TXA2 to produce these responses. Platelets were washed and resuspended in a modified Tyrode solution to which no calcium salt was added that contained 0.35% albumin and apyrase. This medium contains 20 mumol/L Ca2+ and 1 mmol/L Mg2+. Platelets were aggregated with adenosine diphosphate (ADP) in the presence of fibrinogen, agglutinated with polylysine, or after pretreatment with chymotrypsin, aggregated with fibrinogen. In the low-Ca2+ medium, all these agonists caused platelets to adhere to each other, followed by secondary aggregation with TXA2 formation and release of granule contents. When Ca2+ (1 to 2 mmol/L), aspirin, or the thromboxane receptor blocker BM 13.177 was present, the secondary responses did not occur; dazoxiben decreased thromboxane formation, but did not prevent secondary aggregation or release. Aspirin-treated platelets were less responsive to ADP, U46619, or TXA2 in the low-Ca2+ medium, which indicated that the secondary responses of untreated platelets were not caused by a generalized increase in sensitivity. The reactions that result from close platelet-to-platelet contact in a low-Ca2+ medium can be caused by a wide variety of weak agonists; the secondary aggregation response and release of granule contents are dependent on TXA2 formation and on feedback amplification by TXA2 or the prostaglandin endoperoxides. The secondary responses caused by weak agonists in citrated platelet-rich plasma (which has a concentration of Ca2+ similar to the low-Ca2+ medium used in the present studies) do not occur at the concentration of Ca2+ in circulating blood and thus may have little biologic relevance.
15-Hydroxy-11 alpha,9 alpha-(epoxymethano)prosta-5↗