Cholesterol redistribution within human platelet plasma membrane: evidence for a stimulus-dependent event

The fluorescent analog NBD-phosphatidylethanolamine and the analogs of cholesterol NBD-cholesterol and cholestatrienol were used to study the distribution of these lipids within the plasma membrane bilayer of human platelets. The probes were incorporated into platelets using phosphatidylcholine donor vesicles. The distribution of NBD lipid and of cholestatrienol in the platelet plasma membrane bilayer was followed by quenching with dithionite and TNBS, respectively. The t1/2 of cholestatrienol incorporation into platelet membranes was 39 min, and approximately 65% of the probe was quenched by addition of TNBS. When platelets were exposed to collagen or to ADP, a portion of the probe became inaccessible to quenching. Within 2 min of stimulation by collagen (10 micrograms/mL), the percentage of cholestatrienol fluorescence quenched by TNBS decreased to 45%. The fluorescent probe was not found to be associated either with the intracellular membranes or in the extracellular media after collagen stimulation. Similar data were obtained with NBD-cholesterol, but the decrease in accessibility of this probe to quenching was considerably slower. The redistribution of endogenous membrane cholesterol was also measured using cholesterol oxidase. Exposure of platelets to collagen decreased the accessibility of endogenous membrane cholesterol to enzymatic oxidation with cholesterol oxidase. Taken together, the foregoing observations are consistent with the stimulus-dependent translocation of cholesterol out of the outer monolayer. Coincident with the redistribution of cholesterol is the reciprocal movement of NBD-phosphatidylethanolamine into the outer monolayer. In the presence of the chaotropic agents urea and guanidine HCl, the movement of cholestatrienol upon collagen stimulation was prevented, but the redistribution of NBD-phosphatidylethanolamine was still detected. We propose that cholesterol translocates to the inner platelet monolayer following collagen stimulation, but the possibility that the sterol moves laterally within the outer membrane monolayer cannot be rigorously excluded.