Many different biochemical signaling pathways regulate integrin activation through the integrin cytoplasmic tail. Here, we describe a new role for ␣-actinin in inside-out integrin activation. In resting human platelets, ␣-actinin was associated with ␣IIb3, whereas inside-out signaling (␣IIb3 activation signals) from protease-activated receptors (PARs) dephosphorylated and dissociated ␣-actinin from ␣IIb3. We evaluated the time-dependent changes of the ␣IIb3 activation state by measuring PAC-1 binding velocity. The initial velocity analysis clearly showed that PAR1-activating peptide stimulation induced only transient ␣IIb3 activation, whereas PAR4-activating peptide induced long-lasting ␣IIb3 activation. When ␣IIb3 activation signaling dwindled, ␣-actinin became rephosphorylated and reassociated with ␣IIb3. Compared with control platelets, the dissociation of ␣-actinin from ␣IIb3 was only transient in PAR4-stimulated P2Y 12 -deficient platelets in which the sustained ␣IIb3 activation was markedly impaired. Overexpression of wild-type ␣-actinin, but not the mutant Y12F ␣-actinin, increased its binding to ␣IIb3 and inhibited PAR1-induced initial ␣IIb3 activation in the human megakaryoblastic cell line, CMK. In contrast, knockdown of ␣-actinin augmented PAR-induced ␣IIb3 activation in CMK. These observations suggest that ␣-actinin might play a potential role in setting integrins to a default low-affinity ligand-binding state in resting platelets and regulating ␣IIb3 activation by inside-out signaling. (Blood. 2011;117(1):250-258)
IntroductionIntegrins and their ligands play key roles in development, immune responses, leukocyte traffic, hemostasis, and cancer and are at the core of numerous human diseases. 1 Many integrins are expressed with their extracellular domains in a default low-affinity ligandbinding state. The main platelet integrin, ␣IIb3, also known as GPIIb/IIIa, is present at a high density on circulating platelets. It is inactive on circulating platelets; if it were not, platelets would bind their main ligand, fibrinogen, from the plasma and aggregate, leading to thrombosis. This inactivation is important for the biologic function of integrins, as is most evident from assessments of their status on circulating blood cells. However, the molecular mechanisms of their being set to an inactive, low-affinity state remain unknown.High-affinity ligand binding requires activation of integrins through conformational changes regulated by inside-out signaling. 2 Integrin cytoplasmic domains play a pivotal role in integrin signaling because the cytoplasmic tails of the integrin ␣ and  subunits are directly accessible to the intracellular signaling apparatus, namely the integrin activation complex (IAC). 3 Moreover, ligand binding to the integrin induces outside-in signaling that leads to integrin clustering and subsequent recruitment of actin filaments to the integrin cytoplasmic domain. From the perspective that this recruitment occurs by a complex of interacting cytoskeletal proteins, many studie...