Human platelet activation is inhibited by the occupancy of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor

We studied the effect of glycoprotein GPIIb/IIIa (integrin alpha IIb beta 3) receptor occupancy by adenosine 5',1-thiotriphosphate (ATP alpha S), a competitive inhibitor of the ADP receptor, by fibrinogen, and by peptides containing the RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) sequence as RGDW (Arg-Gly-Asp-Trp), RGDS (Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser), or the negative control RGGW (Arg-Gly-Gly-Trp) on human platelet physiological functions: aggregation, ATP secretion, and [Ca2+]in. As the presence of a nucleotide binding site on GPIIb alpha has been demonstrated in platelets [N. J. Greco, N. Yamamoto, B. W. Jackson, N. N. Tandon, M. Moos, and G. A. Jamieson (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 13627-13633], we studied the effect of ATP alpha S, which specifically binds to this site, on platelet activation. We observed that ATP alpha S inhibited aggregation by thrombin, ADP, PMA, and ionophore A23187. Moreover, ATP alpha S dose dependently inhibited ATP secretion by ionophore A23187 and Ca2+ transients by thrombin and vasopressin in both the presence and absence of external Ca2+. Fibrinogen, although induced by a potentiation of platelet aggregation, inhibited ATP secretion and [Ca2+]in elevation induced by low thrombin concentrations or by vasopressin, interfering with both Ca2+ entry and Ca2+ release by the intracellular stores. RGD peptides, which specifically bind to GPIIb/IIIa, inhibited aggregation, secretion, and Ca2+ transients by thrombin, whereas the negative control RGGW did not exert any effect. We conclude that the occupancy of the GPIIb/IIIa receptor binding sites modulates platelet function by giving an inhibitory outside-in signal in platelets, particularly effective in platelets stimulated with low agonist doses. We suggest that ATP alpha S, fibrinogen, or RGD compounds, by interacting with GPIIb/IIIa receptor, prime some intracellular negative feedback mechanisms, which prevent further activation of circulating platelets by low-intensity stimuli and intravascular aggregation.