Thrombin is known to signal to cells by cleaving/activating a G-protein-coupled family of proteinase-activated receptors (PARs). The signaling mechanism involves the proteolytic unmasking of an N-terminal receptor sequence that acts as a tethered receptor-activating ligand. To date, the recognized targets of thrombin cleavage and activation for signaling are PAR1 and PAR4, in which thrombin cleaves at a conserved target arginine to reveal a tethered ligand. PAR2, which like PAR1 is also cleaved at an N-terminal arginine to unmask its tethered ligand, is generally regarded as a target for trypsin but not for thrombin signaling. We now show that thrombin, at concentrations that can be achieved at sites of acute injury or in a tumor microenvironment, can directly activate PAR2 vasorelaxation and signaling, stimulating calcium and mitogenactivated protein kinase responses along with triggering b-arrestin recruitment. Thus, PAR2 can be added alongside PAR1 and PAR4 to the targets, whereby thrombin can affect tissue function.
Thrombin initiates human platelet aggregation by coordinately activating proteinase-activated receptors (PARs) 1 and 4. However, targeting PAR1 with an orthosteric-tethered ligand binding-site antagonist results in bleeding, possibly owing to the important role of PAR1 activation on cells other than platelets. Because of its more restricted tissue expression profile, we have therefore turned to PAR4 as an antiplatelet target. We have identified an intracellular PAR4 C-terminal motif that regulates calcium signaling and -arrestin interactions. By disrupting this PAR4 calcium/-arrestin signaling process with a novel cell-penetrating peptide, we were able to inhibit both thrombin-triggered platelet aggregation in vitro and clot consolidation in vivo. We suggest that targeting PAR4 represents an attractive alternative to blocking PAR1 for antiplatelet therapy in humans.
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