Disaggregation Signals Initiated by Ligand Binding and Platelet Aggregation

Abstract 2196

Accumulating evidence suggests that activation of the major platelet integrin, αIIbβ3, and subsequent platelet aggregation are intrinsically dynamic and reversible processes, especially when platelets are activated by low-dose agonists like ADP. When aggregation is not robust enough to activate feed-forward autocrine amplification pathways, platelet integrins revert to their inactivated state and fibrinogen dissociates, resulting in platelet disaggregation. Failure to disaggregate following low-dose agonist stimulation has been known for many years to correlate with occlusive arterial disease and diabetes mellitus, however the mechanisms by which integrins become inactivated leading to dissociation of fibrinogen is not well understood. Because phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signaling is known to be required to maintain integrins in an activated state and to support the formation of stable platelet aggregates, we examined whether the PI3K/Akt signaling might be actively reversed when platelets aggregate in response to ADP. We found that Akt becomes completely dephosphorylated in an aggregation-dependent manner. SHIP-1, a negative regulator of PI3K signaling, also becomes phosphorylated and activated during the early stages of platelet aggregation. These results suggest that fibrinogen binding and platelet aggregation initiate negative feedback through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway to control unnecessary platelet aggregation responses. To gain further insight into the mechanism of platelet disaggregation, we examined the dynamic interaction of αIIbβ3 with talin – a cytosolic protein whose association with the integrin β3 cytoplasmic domain is required for integrin activation. We found that talin translocates to αIIbβ3 upon ADP stimulation, but dissociates from it during the process of platelet disaggregation. Blocking ADP-induced platelet aggregation with RGDW inhibited dissociation of talin from the integrin, again supporting the notion that that platelet aggregation initiates negative, as well as positive, signals to regulate the extent of agonist-induced platelet aggregation. Finally, we found that platelets missing PLCγ2 or FcγRIIa, each of which plays a positive role downstream of αIIbβ3-mediated outside-in signaling, are less prone to disaggregate following low-dose agonist stimulation than are their wild-type counterparts, although neither of them plays a role in ADP-induced platelet aggregation. Taken together, these data demonstrate that platelet aggregation and integrin αIIbβ3-mediated outside-in signaling not only initiates signals that amplify integrin activation and platelet aggregation, but also guards against inadvertent activation by shifting activated integrin αIIbβ3 back to its resting state, triggering platelet contraction and leading to dissociation of platelet aggregates.