These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.
Pubmed for Handhelds
PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS
Search MEDLINE/PubMed
Title: Thrombin binding to platelets and their activation in plasma. Author: Liu L, Freedman J, Hornstein A, Fenton JW, Ofosu FA. Journal: Br J Haematol; 1994 Nov; 88(3):592-600. PubMed ID: 7529534. Abstract: The interactions of alpha-thrombin with platelets are critical in haemostasis and arterial thrombosis. This study established methods for characterizing the binding of alpha-thrombin to platelets and some of its consequences in platelet-rich plasma. The binding of alpha-thrombin to platelets and the subsequent platelet activation were quantified by flow cytometry, using affinity purified polyclonal antibodies to human alpha-thrombin and a monoclonal antibody to GMP-140, respectively. Dose-dependent binding of alpha-thrombin to platelets and their activation occurred in parallel, both reaching the maxima for each enzyme concentration within 10s after > or = 1.0 nM alpha-thrombin was added to recalcified PRP containing 1 microM recombinant tick anticoagulant peptide. The tick anticoagulant peptide abrogated prothrombin activation in the platelet-rich plasma. alpha-Thrombin binding to platelets, and their activation, were abrogated by a monoclonal antibody to the hirudin tail-like domain of the seven transmembrane thrombin receptor on platelets. Therefore this receptor represents an important site for alpha-thrombin binding to platelets suspended in plasma. D-Phe-Pro-ArgCH2-alpha-thrombin only bound to platelets when its concentration was > or = 100 nM, and it did so without inhibiting platelet activation by alpha-thrombin. Whereas concentrations of hirudin equimolar to those of alpha-thrombin failed to abrogate alpha-thrombin-mediated activation of platelets, a 10-fold molar excesses of hirudin over alpha-thrombin abrogated alpha-thrombin binding to platelets. The demonstration that > or = 1.0 nM alpha-thrombin can bind to platelets and initiate their activation raises the possibility that the levels of thrombin generated in venous and arterial thrombosis contribute to platelet activation in vivo.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]