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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Platelet-based Detection of Nitric Oxide in Blood by Measuring VASP Phosphorylation
Published on: January 7, 2019
Regulation of platelet granule exocytosis by S-nitrosylation
Craig N Morrell1, Kenji Matsushita, Kelly Chiles
1Department of Comparative Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Abstract:
Nitric oxide (NO) regulates platelet activation by cGMP-dependent mechanisms and by mechanisms that are not completely defined. Platelet activation includes exocytosis of platelet granules, releasing mediators that regulate interactions between platelets, leukocytes, and endothelial cells. Exocytosis is mediated in part by N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF), an ATPase that disassembles complexes of soluble NSF attachment protein receptors. We now demonstrate that NO inhibits exocytosis of dense granules, lysosomal granules, and alpha-granules from human platelets by S-nitrosylation of NSF. Platelets lacking endothelial NO synthase show increased rolling on venules, increased thrombosis in arterioles, and increased exocytosis in vivo. Regulation of exocytosis is thus a mechanism by which NO regulates thrombosis.
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