STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE GLYCOPROTEIN Ib-IX COMPLEX
Authors: Berndt M 
Published: August 2018

At high shear flow, the adhesion of platelets to the exposed vascular subendothelium requires von Willebrand factor (vWF) and is dependent upon a specific platelet membrane adhesion receptor, the human platelet membrane glycoprotein (GP) Ib-IX complex. Recent evidence suggests that vWFbinding to the GP Ib-IX complex plays an important role in other key aspects of hemostasis and thrombosis such as shear-induced platelet aggregation and the interaction of platelets with fibrin.

Studies in our laboratory with a seriesof murine monoclonal antibodies directed against epitopes on GP lb, GP IX, or against complex-specificepitopes indicate that GP lb and GP IX exist in the intact platelet membrane as a native heterodimer complex(-25,000 copies/platelet). By analysis onSDS-polyacrylamide gels, GP lb has an apparent molecular weight of 170,000 and cnsists of two disulfide-linked subunits, GP Iba (Mr = 135,000) and GP Ibβ (Mr = 25,000),whilst GP IX has an equivalent molecularweight under both nonreducing and reducing conditions (Mr = 22,000).The ±-chain ofGP lb has a central macroglycopeptide core (Mr =90,000) which is highly glycosylated. At each end of themacroglycopeptide region is a domainsensitive to proteolytic cleavage. Cleavage at the end proximal to the platelet membrane, e.g. by calpain, Serratia marcescens metalloprotease and trypsin, generates two fragments :a Mr =130,000 highly glycosylated fragment termed glycocalicin anda membrane-associated region consisting ofa Mr -25,000 fragment that remains disulfide-linkedto GP Ibβ and associated with GP IX. In resting platelets, the membrane-associated region spans the lipid bilayer linking the GP Ib-IX complex to the platelet endoskeleton via actin-binding protein. This membrane-associated region also contains the domain(s) recognized by quinine/quinidine drug-dependent antibodies. Cleavage at the plasma end of the macroglycopeptide, e.g. by human leukocyte elastase, generates a poorly glycosylated Mr = 45,000 fragment of GP Ibα (peptide tail region) and a heavily glycosylated Mr = 100,000 fragment that remains disulfide-linked to GP Ibg and associated with GP IX. Platelets lacking the N-terminal peptide tail region of GP Iba fail to agglutinate with ristocetin and vWF and show a delayed response to a-thrombin.Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against this region also inhibit both these platelet responses suggesting that the peptide tail region contains the binding sites for both α-thrombinand vWF. Rotary shadowingelectron microscopy of purified GP Ib-IX complex shows the structure to be highlyasymmetric with each complex existing asa flexible rod with a globular domain at each end. The overall length of the complexwas =60 nm.The smaller globular domain (peptidetail region) has a diameter of =9nm; the larger globular domain (membrane-associated region), a diameter of =16 nm

We have recently examined whetherthe human platelet GP Ib-IX complex is the receptor for the ristocetin-dependent binding of vWF by reconstitution with the purified components using a solid-phasebead assay. Our approach was to indirectlybind and orientate the GP Ib-IX complex onthe beads via a monoclonal antibody directed against the membrane-associated region of the complex (FMC 25, epitope on GP IX).Immunobeads were chosen as the insoluble matrix because they are uniform in size (=10μm in diameter), impermeable,specifically designed for the coupling of IgG, and because, like platelets, the beads have a net negative charge atneutral pH.Specific binding of 125I-labelled human vWF tothe GP Ib-IX complex-coated immunobeads was strictly ristocetin-dependent with maximal binding occurring atristocetin concentrations >1 mg/ml. Ristocetin-dependent specificbinding of 125I-labelled vWF was saturable.Scatchardanalysis revealed a single classof binding sites for vWF with purified GP Ib-IX complex.Monoclonal antibodies against the Mr = 45,000 peptide tail region ofGP lb which stronglyinhibitthe ristocetin-dependent binding ofvWF toplatelets also strongly inhibited the ristocetin-dependent binding of vWFto the GP Ib-IX coated beads. Monoclonalantibody against either themacroglycopeptide or membrane-associated regions of the GPIb-IX complex did not inhibit the ristocetin-dependent binding of vWF to platelets or to the GP Ib-IX complex-coated beads. Similar functional correlations were obtained with anti-vWFmonoclonal antibodies. The reconstitutiondata therefore confirm the functional roleof the GP Ib-IX complex as a major plateletvWF receptor. The region ofthe vWF molecule involved in binding to the GP Ib-IX complex has been localized toa Mr =50,000 domain towards theN-terminal end of the vWF subunit. The reconstitution assay should prove useful in the further definition of active peptides of vWF that bind tothe human platelet GP Ib-IX complex.