Glycoprotein-sialyltransferase activity of normal human, thrombasthenic and Bernard-Soulier platelets

Some properties of the sialyltransferase activity of homogenates prepared from normal human platelets were investigated using asialo-fetuin as substrate. The enzyme activity was optimal at pH 6.5 and was stimulated by divalent cations in the order Mg2+ greater than Mn2+ greater than Ca2+. Buffers of high ionic strength strongly reduced the activity. ATP and ADP were not inhibitors at 0.1 mM concentration, but AMP, CTP and CMP reduced the activity by 15-30%. A native endogenous acceptor for the enzyme activity was located in the platelet homogenates. The range of fetuin-sialyltransferase activity found in platelets isolated from 6 normal donors was 79 +/- 39 pmol/h/mg protein (mean +/- SD). The platelets of patients with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia and the Bernard-Soulier syndrome, which are characterized by different membrane glycoprotein deficiencies, were shown to have fetuin-sialyltransferase activities within the normal range indicating that the membrane glycoprotein defects in the platelets of these patients are not associated with the absence of sialyltransferase activity.