ALBERT

Description: Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is appreciated as the main physiologic mechanism that regulates cell life-span and serves for controlled deletion of unwanted cells. Since its discovery in 1972, apoptosis was long attributed exclusively to nucleate cells. It took more than 20 years to recognize apoptosis in enucleated cells cytoplasts and anucleate platelets. During the following years, apoptosis has been demonstrated in platelets treated with natural and artificial agonists, in platelet concentrates aged during storage under standard blood banking conditions, and in animal models of suppressed thrombopoiesis and thrombocytopenia. Other studies documented that mechanical forces (shear stresses) stimulate platelet activation and signaling in the absence of exogenous chemical stimuli. We analysed whether shear stresses can trigger platelet apoptosis, a question that has not yet been studied. Using a cone-and-plate viscometer (CAP-2000, Brookfield Engineering Labs, Inc., Middleboro, MA), we exposed human platelet-rich plasma to different shear stresses, ranging from physiologic arterial and arterioles levels (10–44 dynes/cm2) to pathologic high levels (117–388 dynes/cm2) occurring in stenosed coronary, peripheral or cerebral arteries. We found that pathologic shear stresses induce not only platelet activation (P-selectin upregulation and GPIb-alpha downregulation) but also trigger apoptosis events, including mitochondrial transmembrane potential depolarization, caspase 3 activation, phosphatidylserine exposure, and platelet shrinkage and fragmentation into microparticles, whereas physiologic shear stresses are not effective. Platelets subjected to pathologic shear stresses are characterized by impaired platelet function as shown by the absence of ADP-induced platelet aggregation. Apoptosis changes were also induced by the treatment of platelets with calcium ionophore A23187 (10 μM) and thrombin (1 U/mL). Thus, in the present work, we have demonstrated that platelet apoptosis can be induced by chemical stimuli and by mechanical rheological forces (pathologic high shear stresses). Most of shear-induced activation and apoptosis events occur inside of the platelet, including translocation of CD62 from alpha-granules to the platelet surface, depolarization of mitochondrial inner membrane potential, activation of cytosolic enzyme caspase 3, and translocation of phosphatidylserine from the inner to the outer plasma membrane leaflet. These data suggest that the effects of shear stress on platelet activation and apoptosis are mediated by mechanoreceptor(s) that transmit activation and apoptosis signals to the cell interior. The platelet paradigm of apoptosis induced by chemical agonists and shear stresses suggests that apoptotic cytoplasmic machinery may function without nuclear participation.

Description: A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at position 196 in the β3 integrin causes a Leu33Pro substitution in the mature protein. Alloimmunization against the β3Leu33 form (human platelet antigen [HPA]-1a, PlA1, Zwa) in patients who are β3Pro33 homozygous (HPA-1b1b, PlA2A2, Zwbb) causes neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, posttransfusion purpura, or refractoriness to platelet transfusion. Studies with recombinant proteins have demonstrated that amino acids 1 to 66 and 288 to 490 of the β3 integrin contribute to HPA-1a epitope formation. In determining the HPA-1a status of more than 6000 donors, we identified a donor with an HPA-1aweak phenotype and an HPA-1a1b genotype. The platelets from this donor had normal levels of surface αIIbβ3 but reacted only weakly with monoclonal and polyclonal anti–HPA-1a by whole blood enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), flow cytometry, and sandwich ELISA. We reasoned that an alteration in the primary nucleotide sequence of the β3Leu33 allele of this donor was disrupting the HPA-1a epitope. In agreement with this hypothesis, sequencing platelet RNA-derived αIIb and β3 cDNA identified a novel G/A SNP at position 376 of the β3 integrin that encodes for an Arg93Gln replacement in the β3Leu33 allele. Coexpression of the β3Leu33Gln93 encoding cDNA in Chinese hamster ovary cells with human αIIb cDNA showed that the surface-expressed αIIbβ3 reacted normally with β3 integrin–specific monoclonal antibodies but only weakly with monoclonal anti-HPA-1a. Our results show that an Arg93Gln mutation in the β3Leu33 encoding allele disrupts the HPA-1a epitope, suggesting that Arg93 contributes to the formation of the HPA-1a B-cell epitope.

Description: Platelets become activated during preparation and storage of platelet concentrates (PCs) for transfusion. Flow cytometric assays of platelet activation can be employed for quantifying in vitro quality of PCs. It remains, however, unclear whether the level of in vitro platelet activation in stored PCs correlates with in vivo survival of the platelets after transfusion. Platelet surface glycoprotein (GP) Ibα and P-selectin (CD62) can be involved in regulation of posttransfusion PC clearance, mediating adhesive interactions of platelets with counter-receptors on leukocytes and endothelial cells. Recently, we described a rabbit model for analyzing posttransfusion kinetics of human PCs (Leytin et al, Transfusion42:711, 2002, Transfusion43:983, 2003). In the present work, we used this validated model for studying the implication of CD62 and GPIbα expression in posttransfusion PC clearance. Platelet activation in vitro was determined by flow cytometry using anti-CD62 and anti-GPIbα antibodies. PC clearance in vivo was evaluated in rabbits with inhibited reticuloendothelial system, as measured by 0.5 hr (R0.5), 24 hr (R24) and total (R∑) platelet recoveries, and survival time (ST). Correlations were analysed between in vitro assays of platelet activation and in vivo clearance of conventional (Day 2–5) and outdated (Day 7–8) PCs stored at 22°C, and refrigerated PCs. We found that the binding of anti-CD62 antibody was significantly increased in outdated and refrigerated PCs compared to conventional PCs, reflecting an increased exposure of CD62 on the platelet surface. In contrast, binding of anti-GPIbα antibody was significantly decreased during prolonged and refrigerated PC storage. The clearance of conventional (Day 2–5) PCs from the circulation can be described by a biphasic survival curve. The first (early) phase of platelet clearance is characterized by fast (≥ 14 x 109 platelets per hour) platelet removal, whereas the second (delayed) phase has a much slower rate of platelet clearance (approximately 0.4 x 109 platelets per hour). The biphasic survival curves were also obtained for outdated and refrigerated PCs, and were employed for determining fast (R0.5), delayed (ST and R24) and overall (fast + delayed; R∑) platelet clearance in vivo. We found that when stored PCs are cold-damaged, their in vivo viability decreased significantly, in comparison to conventional PCs, as reflected by the fast, delayed and overall platelet clearances. Viability of Day 7–8 PCs is also decreased, compared to Day 2–5 PCs, but only the fast and overall platelet clearance increased significantly. Negative correlation was observed between in vitro anti-CD62-binding to platelets and their fast, but not delayed, clearance. In contrast, anti-GPIbα-binding showed positive correlations with delayed, but not fast, platelet clearance. Overall clearance correlated better with anti-GPIbα- than with anti-CD62-binding. We also demonstrated that CD62 is shed from the platelet surface after transfusion, whereas GPIbα remains unchanged on the surface of circulating platelets. The data suggest that CD62 exposure during PC storage triggers fast CD62-mediated PC clearance. However, after CD62 shedding during platelet circulation, in vitro GPIbα alterations, such as cleavage, clustering or conformation changes, may determine long-term GPIbα-mediated PC clearance.