Association Between Ligand-Induced Conformational Changes of Integrin IIbβ3 and IIbβ3-Mediated Intracellular Ca2+ Signaling

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Platelet IIbβ3 is a prototypic integrin and plays a critical role in platelet aggregation. Occupancy of IIbβ3 with multivalent RGD ligands, such as fibrinogen, induces both expression of ligand-induced binding sites (LIBS) and IIbβ3 clustering, which are thought to be necessary for outside-in signaling. However, the association between LIBS expression and outside-in signaling remains elusive. In this study, we used various IIbβ3-specific peptidomimetic compounds as a monovalent ligand instead of fibrinogen and examined the association between LIBS expression and outside-in signaling such as IIbβ3-mediated intracellular Ca2+ signaling. Using a set of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) against LIBS, we showed that antagonists can be divided into two groups. In group I, antagonists can induce LIBS on both IIb and β3 subunits. In group II, antagonists can induce LIBS on the IIb subunit, but not on the β3 subunit. Inhibition studies suggested that group I and group II antagonists interact with distinct but mutually exclusive sites on IIbβ3. Neither group I nor group II antagonist increased intracellular Ca2+concentrations ([Ca2+]i) in nonactivated platelets. All antagonists at nanomolar concentrations abolished the increase in [Ca2+]i in 0.03 U/mL thrombin-stimulated platelets, which is dependent on both fibrinogen-binding to IIbβ3 and platelet-aggregation. However, only group I antagonists at higher concentrations dose-dependently augmented the [Ca2+]i increase, which is due to aggregation-independent thromboxane A2 production. This increase in [Ca2+]i was not observed in thrombasthenic platelets, which express no detectable IIbβ3. Thus, only the group I antagonists, albeit a monovalent ligand, can initiate IIbβ3-mediated intracellular Ca2+ signaling in the presence of thrombin stimulation. Our findings strongly suggest the association between β3LIBS expression and IIbβ3-mediated intracellular Ca2+ signaling in platelets.