Platelet activation leads to secretion of granule contents and to the formation of microvesicles by shedding of membranes from the cell surface. Recently, we have described small internal vesicles in multivesicular bodies (MVBs) and -granules, and suggested that these vesicles are secreted during platelet activation, analogous to the secretion of vesicles termed exosomes by other cell types. In the present study we report that two different types of membrane vesicles are released after stimulation of platelets with thrombin receptor agonist peptide SFLLRN (TRAP) or -thrombin: microvesicles of 100 nm to 1 μm, and exosomes measuring 40 to 100 nm in diameter, similar in size as the internal vesicles in MVBs and -granules. Microvesicles could be detected by flow cytometry but not the exosomes, probably because of the small size of the latter. Western blot analysis showed that isolated exosomes were selectively enriched in the tetraspan protein CD63. Whole-mount immuno-electron microscopy (IEM) confirmed this observation. Membrane proteins such as the integrin chains IIb-β3 and β1, GPIb, and P-selectin were predominantly present on the microvesicles. IEM of platelet aggregates showed CD63+ internal vesicles in fusion profiles of MVBs, and in the extracellular space between platelet extensions. Annexin-V binding was mainly restricted to the microvesicles and to a low extent to exosomes. Binding of factor X and prothrombin was observed to the microvesicles but not to exosomes. These observations and the selective presence of CD63 suggest that released platelet exosomes may have an extracellular function other than the procoagulant activity, attributed to platelet microvesicles.

We employed our recently developed immuno-electron microscopic method (W. Möbius, Y. Ohno-Iwashita, E. G. van Donselaar, V. M. Oorschot, Y. Shimada, T. Fujimoto, H. F. Heijnen, H. J. Geuze and J. W. Slot, J Histochem Cytochem 2002; 50: 43-55) to analyze the distribution of cholesterol in the endocytic pathway of human B lymphocytes. We could distinguish 6 categories of endocytic compartments on the basis of morphology, BSA gold uptake kinetics and organelle marker analysis. Of all cholesterol detected in the endocytic pathway, we found 20% in the recycling tubulo-vesicles and 63% present in two types of multivesicular bodies. In the multivesicular bodies, most of the cholesterol was contained in the internal membrane vesicles, the precursors of exosomes secreted by B cells. Cholesterol was almost absent from lysosomes, that contained the bulk of the lipid bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate, also termed lysobisphosphatidic acid. Thus, cholesterol displays a highly differential distribution in the various membrane domains of the endocytic pathway.

No abstract

S-nitrosylation, the selective modification of cysteine residues in proteins to form S-nitrosocysteine, is a major emerging mechanism by which nitric oxide acts as a signaling molecule. Even though nitric oxide is intimately involved in the regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell functions, the potential protein targets for nitric oxide modification as well as structural features that underlie the specificity of protein S-nitrosocysteine formation in these cells remain unknown. Therefore, we used a proteomic approach using selective peptide capturing and site-specific adduct mapping to identify the targets of S-nitrosylation in human aortic smooth muscle cells upon exposure to S-nitrosocysteine and propylamine propylamine NONOate. This strategy identified 20 unique S-nitrosocysteine-containing peptides belonging to 18 proteins including cytoskeletal proteins, chaperones, proteins of the translational machinery, vesicular transport, and signaling. Sequence analysis of the S-nitrosocysteine-containing peptides revealed the presence of acid͞base motifs, as well as hydrophobic motifs surrounding the identified cysteine residues. High-resolution immunogold electron microscopy supported the cellular localization of several of these proteins. Interestingly, seven of the 18 proteins identified are localized within the ER͞Golgi complex, suggesting a role for S-nitrosylation in membrane trafficking and ER stress response in vascular smooth muscle.nitric oxide ͉ proteomics ͉ S-nitrosothiols S -nitrosylation, the formal transfer of nitrosonium to a reduced cysteine, is a reversible and selective posttranslational modification that regulates protein activity, localization, and stability, and also functions as a general sensor for cellular redox balance (1-7). The formation of protein S-nitrosocysteine requires the removal of a single electron, i.e., the conversion of the nitrogen in nitric oxide from an oxidation state of 2 to 3. Several distinct pathways could satisfy the formation of protein S-nitrosocysteine adducts in biological systems, such as autooxidation of nitric oxide forming higher oxides of nitrogen, radical recombination of thiyl radical with nitric oxide, catalysis by metal centers, the direct reaction of nitric oxide with a reduced cysteine followed by electron abstraction, and transnitrosation reactions carried out by S-nitrosoglutathione, other small molecular mass S-nitrosothiols, and more recently, S-nitrosocysteine-containing proteins (8-10).In vascular smooth muscle cells, nitric oxide derived from endothelium regulates important biological functions beyond relaxation, such as phenotypic changes, proliferation, and commitment to undergo apoptosis (11,12). Previous studies have shown that the molecular mechanisms underlying the functions of nitric oxide in vascular smooth muscle are mediated by both soluble guanylate cyclase-dependent and independent mechanisms (12)(13)(14). It has been suggested that selective S-nitrosylation of protein targets are responsible for the guanylate cyclase-independent reg...

Platelet activation leads to secretion of granule contents and to the formation of microvesicles by shedding of membranes from the cell surface. Recently, we have described small internal vesicles in multivesicular bodies (MVBs) and -granules, and suggested that these vesicles are secreted during platelet activation, analogous to the secretion of vesicles termed exosomes by other cell types. In the present study we report that two different types of membrane vesicles are released after stimulation of platelets with thrombin receptor agonist peptide SFLLRN (TRAP) or -thrombin: microvesicles of 100 nm to 1 μm, and exosomes measuring 40 to 100 nm in diameter, similar in size as the internal vesicles in MVBs and -granules. Microvesicles could be detected by flow cytometry but not the exosomes, probably because of the small size of the latter. Western blot analysis showed that isolated exosomes were selectively enriched in the tetraspan protein CD63. Whole-mount immuno-electron microscopy (IEM) confirmed this observation. Membrane proteins such as the integrin chains IIb-β3 and β1, GPIb, and P-selectin were predominantly present on the microvesicles. IEM of platelet aggregates showed CD63+ internal vesicles in fusion profiles of MVBs, and in the extracellular space between platelet extensions. Annexin-V binding was mainly restricted to the microvesicles and to a low extent to exosomes. Binding of factor X and prothrombin was observed to the microvesicles but not to exosomes. These observations and the selective presence of CD63 suggest that released platelet exosomes may have an extracellular function other than the procoagulant activity, attributed to platelet microvesicles.