Effects on platelet function of removal of platelet sialic acid by neuraminidase

A number of investigators have implicated sialic acid on the surface of platelets in platelet function. In this study we have quantitated the amount of sialic acid removed by purified neuraminidase from the surface of washed platelets of man, rabbit, or pig and examined the effects of this removal. Purified neuraminidase did not induce the release of platelet granule contents. Platelets were pre-labeled with 14C-serotonin for measurement of the release reaction or with 51Cr for determination of adherence to a collagen-coated surface or damaged aortic surface, and for in vivo platelet survival studies. Washed, neuraminidase-treated platelets were resuspended in Tyrode's solution containing 0.35 per cent albumin or in citrated platelet-free plasma from the same species. Both resuspending fluids contained apyrase. Aggregating agents tested were ADP, acid-soluble collagen, thrombin, ristocetin (with human platelets), polylysine, and serotonin (with rabbit platelets). With all of these agents except polylysine, aggregation of neuraminidase-treated human or rabbit platelets was slightly enhanced compared with control platelets; aggregation of pig platelets was unchanged. When release-inducing agents were used, neuraminidase-treated platelets released more of their 14C-serotonin than control platelets. The extent to which rabbit platelets adhered to a collagen-coated surface or to the damaged surface of everted rabbit aorta was unchanged by pretreatment of platelets with neuraminidase. Therefore it seems unlikely that sialic acid is involved in platelet adherence to collagen. When more than 15 per cent of total sialic acid had been removed from rabbit platelets, they were completely cleared from the circulation within 1 hour of their injection into rabbits. When 8 to 10 per cent of total sialic acid had been removed, the platelets were not cleared immediately from the circulation but were cleared more quickly than control platelets. Thus, although removal of up to 65 per cent of platelet sialic acid has only a slightly enhancing effect on platelet aggregation and release in vitro, removal of as little as 8 to 10 per cent results in the recognition of platelets as "foreign" in vivo.