The Intracellular Calcium Store Function of Platelet Granules.

Abstract

The atrial specific granule has been described as an intracellular Ca store (ICaS). It is reasonably proposed that other polypeptidesecretory granules could also play the function of ICaS. In the present work, high Ca concentration in the dense granule (dG) and α granule (αG) of platelets was confirmed by using x-ray microanalysis in both ultrathin cryosections and ethanolic phosphotungstic acid staining sections, and Ca2+-ATPase activities were found on the membrane of both the granules. Furthermore, when platelets were activated by A 23187 1 mM, thrombin 2 U/ml or ADP 200μM, both the Ca content and number of the granules decreased, which means that the Ca2+ was released and secretion of the granules increased. It is suggested that the release Ca2+ raise the cytosolic Ca2+ level and, thus, the secretion of the granules is promoted. In addition, it was described that the ultrastructure of the platelet granules in ultrathin cryosections was somewhat different from that in routine sections.