Summary. Background: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity in endothelial cells is regulated by posttranslational phosphorylation of critical serine, threonine and tyrosine residues in response to a variety of stimuli. However, the post-translational regulation of eNOS in platelets is poorly defined. Objectives: We investigated the role of tyrosine phosphorylation in the regulation of platelet eNOS activity. Methods: Tyrosine phosphorylation of eNOS and interaction with the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 were investigated by coimmunoprecipitation and immunoblotting. An in vitro immunoassay was used to determine eNOS activity together with the contribution of protein tyrosine phosphorylation. Results: We found platelet eNOS was tyrosine phosphorylated under basal conditions. Thrombin induced a dose-and timedependent increase in eNOS activity without altering overall level of tyrosine phosphorylation, although we did observe evidence of minor tyrosine dephosphorylation. In vitro tyrosine dephosphorylation of platelet eNOS using a recombinant protein tyrosine phosphatase enhanced thrombin-induced activity compared to thrombin alone, but had no effect on endothelial eNOS activity either at basal or after stimulation with bradykinin. Having shown that dephosphorylation could modulate platelet eNOS activity we examined the role of potential protein phosphatases important for platelet eNOS activity. We found SHP-1 protein tyrosine phosphatase, coassociated with platelet eNOS in resting platelets, but does not associate with eNOS in endothelial cells. Stimulation of platelets with thrombin increased SHP-1 association with eNOS, while inhibition of SHP-1 abolished the ability of thrombin to induce elevated eNOS activity. Conclusions: Our data suggest a novel role for tyrosine dephosphorylation in platelet eNOS activation, which may be mediated by SHP-1.

Summary. Background: Platelet-derived nitric oxide (NO) has beenshown to play conflicting roles in platelet function,although it is accepted that NO mediates its actions through soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC). This confusion concerning the roles of platelet NO may have arisen because of an uncharacterized mechanism for activation of sGC. Objectives: To examine the ability of the novel platelet agonist globular adiponectin (gAd) to stimulate the NO-independent cGMP-protein kinase G (PKG) signaling cascade. Methods: We used three independent markers of NO signaling, [ . Phosphorylation of VASP in response to gAd was mediated by both protein kinase A and PKG. Importantly, cGMP formation occurred in the absence of NO synthase (NOS) activation and in the presence of NOS inhibitors. Indeed, inhibition of the NOS signaling cascade had no influence on gAd-mediated platelet aggregation. Exploration of the mechanism demonstrated that NO-independent cGMP formation, phosphorylation of VASP and association of sGCa 1 with heat shock protein-90 induced by gAd were blocked under conditions that inhibited Src kinases, implying a tyrosine kinase-dependent mechanism. Indeed, sGCa1 was reversibly tyrosine phosphorylated in response to gAd, collagen, and collagen-related peptide, an effect that required Src kinases and downstream Ca 2+ mobilization. Conclusions: These data demonstrate activation of the platelet cGMP signaling cascade by a novel tyrosine kinase-dependent mechanism in the absence of NO.

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