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Blood, 14 May 2009, Vol. 113, No. 20, pp. 5010-5018. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on March 6, 2009; DOI 10.1182/blood-2008-09-181206.
Submitted September 25, 2008
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Cell Biology Unit and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom * Corresponding author; email: d.cutler{at}ucl.ac.uk.
Endothelial cells contain cigar-shaped secretory organelles called Weibel Palade Bodies (WPB) that play a crucial role in both hemostasis and the initiation of inflammation. The major cargo protein of WPB is von Willebrand Factor (VWF). In unstimulated cells this protein is stored in a highly multimerized state coiled into protein tubules, but following secretagogue stimulation and exocytosis it unfurls, under shear force, as long platelet-binding strings. Small GTPases of the Rab family play a key role in organelle function. Using siRNA depletion in primary endothelial cells we have identified a role for the WPB-associated Rab27a and its effector MyRIP. Both these proteins are present on only mature WPB, and this rab/effector complex appears to anchor these WPB to peripheral actin. Depletion of either the Rab or its effector results in a loss of peripheral WPB localization, and this destabilization is coupled with an increase in both basal and stimulated secretion. The VWF released from Rab27a depleted cells is less multimerized, and the VWF strings seen under flow are shorter. Our results indicate that this Rab/effector complex controls peripheral distribution and prevents release of incompletely processed WPB content.
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