Related Experiment Videos
Structure-activity relationships for platelet-activating factor (PAF) and analogues reveal differences between PAF
1Department of Physiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract:
Analogues of PAF were examined for their potency in stimulating either platelet aggregation or macrophage superoxide anion generation. Modification of either the alkyl side-chain or the acetyl side-chain increased the relative potency of PAF analogues in macrophages, but all these compounds were more active in platelets. However, an analogue of PAF with an increased inter-ionic distance in the polar head group, hexanolamine PAF, showed a greater potency in macrophages than platelets. The latter compound also appeared to act as a partial agonist in both rabbit platelets and guinea-pig macrophages, but not in guinea-pig platelets. Differences in the rank order of potency of the PAF analogues in stimulating these cell elements suggest that platelet and macrophage PAF receptors differ.