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L Muszbek and M Laposata
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of
Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104.
Covalent attachment of fatty acid to proteins plays an important role in
association of certain proteins with hydrophobic membrane structures. In
platelets, the structure of many membrane glycoproteins (GPs) has been
examined in detail, but the question of fatty acid acylation of platelet
proteins has not been addressed. In this study, we wished to determine (a)
whether platelet proteins could be fatty acid acylated; and, if so, (b)
whether these modified proteins were present in isolated platelet membranes
and cytoskeletal fractions; and (c) if the pattern of fatty acid acylated
proteins changed on stimulation of the platelets with the agonist thrombin.
We observed that in platelets allowed to incorporate 3H-palmitate, a small
percentage (1.37%) of radioactivity incorporated into the cells became
covalently bound to protein. Selective cleavage of thioester, thioester
plus O-ester, and amide-linked 3H-fatty acids from proteins, and their
subsequent analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
indicated that the greatest part of 3H-fatty acid covalently bound to
protein was thioester-linked 3H-palmitate. By sodium dodecyl sulfate-
polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and fluorography, at least
ten major radiolabeled proteins were detected. Activation of platelets by
thrombin greatly increased the quantity of 3H- palmitoylated proteins
associated with the cytoskeleton. Nearly all radiolabeled proteins were
recovered in the membrane fraction, indicating that these proteins are
either integral or peripheral membrane proteins or proteins tightly
associated to membrane constituents. Components of the GPIIb-IIIa complex
were not palmitoylated. Thus, platelet proteins are significantly modified
posttranslationally by 3H-palmitate, and incorporation of palmitoylated
proteins into the cytoskeleton is a prominent component of the platelet
response to thrombin stimulation.
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