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In blood platelets the small GTPase Rap1b is activated by cytosolic Ca2+ and promotes integrin αIIbβ3 inside-out activation and platelet aggregation. cAMP is the major inhibitor of platelet function and antagonizes Rap1b stimulation through a mechanism that remains unclear. In the present study we demonstrate that the Ca2+-dependent exchange factor for Rap1b, CalDAG-GEFI (calcium and diacylglycerol-regulated guanine-nucleotide-exchange factor I), is a novel substrate for the cAMP-activated PKA (protein kinase A). CalDAG-GEFI phosphorylation occurred in intact platelets treated with the cAMP-increasing agent forskolin and was inhibited by the PKA inhibitor H89. Purified recombinant CalDAG-GEFI was also phosphorylated in vitro by the PKA catalytic subunit. By screening a panel of specific serine to alanine residue mutants, we identified Ser116 and Ser586 as PKA phosphorylation sites in CalDAG-GEFI. In transfected HEK (human embryonic kidney)-293 cells, as well as in platelets, forskolin-induced phosphorylation of CalDAG-GEFI prevented the activation of Rap1b induced by the Ca2+ ionophore A23187. In platelets this effect was associated with the inhibition of aggregation. Moreover, cAMP-mediated inhibition of Rap1b was lost in HEK-293 cells transfected with a double mutant of CalDAG-GEFI unable to be phosphorylated by PKA. The results of the present study demonstrate that phosphorylation of CalDAG-GEFI by PKA affects its activity and represents a novel mechanism for cAMP-mediated inhibition of Rap1b in platelets.

One of the most intensively studied post-translational modifications of erythrocyte proteins is the phosphorylation of tyrosine residues of band 3, which is strictly regulated in vivo by PTKs (protein-tyrosine kinases) and PTPs (protein-phosphotyrosine phosphatases). Two PTKs (p72(syk) and p56/53(lyn)) and two PTP activities (PTP1B and SHPTP-2) have been immunologically identified so far in mature human erythrocytes. We have shown previously that band 3 undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation upon a decrease in cell volume, as occurs when erythrocytes treated with Ca(2+)/Ca(2+) ionophore (A23187) lose KCl and release microvesicles. Similar levels of band 3 tyrosine phosphorylation in vesicles and in the parent cells are induced by this treatment. However, we have found that tyrosine phosphorylation of band 3 in vesicles is more stable than in whole erythrocytes. Examination of how the identified PTPs and PTKs are partitioned between the vesicles and the remnant cells during vesiculation reveals that PTP1B, unlike the PTKs, is retained entirely in the parent cell compartment. Since a tight association between PTP1B and band 3 has been documented previously, we have investigated the partitioning of PTP1B and band 3 between the membrane and the membrane-skeletal fractions prepared from resting or Ca(2+)/A23187-treated cells. Our results rule out the possibility that the preferential retention of PTP1B within the cell was due to an increase in the amount of membrane-skeleton-associated band 3 (and of PTP1B) during the release of spectrin-free vesicles, suggesting a more complex modality of interaction of PTP1B with band 3 in the erythrocyte membrane. Analysis of erythrocytes of different cell ages revealed that PTP1B, unlike the other enzymes examined, was quantitatively conserved during erythrocyte aging. This suggests important roles for the down-regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation of band 3 in erythrocyte physiology, and for vesiculation as a mechanism of human erythrocyte senescence.

Human erythrocyte band 3 becomes rapidly phosphorylated on tyrosine residues after exposure of erythrocytes to hypertonic conditions. The driving force for this phosphorylation reaction seems to be a decrease in cell volume, because (1) changes in band 3 phosphotyrosine content accurately track repeated changes in erythrocyte volume through several cycles of swelling and shrinking; (2) the level of band 3 phosphorylation is independent of the osmolyte employed but strongly sensitive to the magnitude of cell shrinkage; and (3) exposure of erythrocytes to hypertonic buffers under conditions in which intracellular osmolarity increases but volume does not change (nystatin-treated cells) does not promote an increase in tyrosine phosphorylation. We hypothesize that shrinkage-induced tyrosine phosphorylation results either from an excluded-volume effect, stemming from an increase in intracellular crowding, or from changes in membrane curvature that accompany the decrease in cell volume. Although the net phosphorylation state of band 3 is shown to be due to a delicate balance between a constitutively active tyrosine phosphatase and constitutively active tyrosine kinase, the increase in phosphorylation during cell shrinkage was demonstrated to derive specifically from an activation of the latter. Further, a peculiar inhibition pattern of the volume-sensitive erythrocyte tyrosine kinase that matched that of p72syk, a tyrosine kinase already known to associate with band 3 in vivo, suggested the involvement of this kinase in the volume-dependent response.

Human erythrocytes were induced to release membrane vesicles by treatment with Ca2+ and ionophore A23187. In addition to the biochemical changes already known to accompany loading of human erythrocytes with Ca2+, the present study reveals that tyrosine phosphorylation of the anion exchanger band 3 protein also occurs. The relationship between tyrosine phosphorylation of band 3 and membrane vesiculation was analysed using quinine (a non-specific inhibitor of the Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel, and the only known inhibitor of Ca(2+)-induced vesiculation) and charybdotoxin, a specific inhibitor of the apamin-insensitive K(+)-channel. Both inhibitors suppressed tyrosine phosphorylation of band 3. In the presence of quinine, membrane vesiculation was also suppressed. In contrast, at the concentration of charybdotoxin required to suppress tyrosine phosphorylation of band 3, membrane vesiculation was only mildly inhibited (16-23% inhibition), suggesting that tyrosine phosphorylation of band 3 is not necessary for membrane vesiculation. Phosphorylation of band 3 was in fact observed when erythrocytes were induced to shrink in a Ca(2+)-independent manner, e.g. by treatment with the K+ ionophore valinomycin or with hypertonic solutions. These observations suggest that band 3 tyrosine phosphorylation occurs when cell volume regulation is required.

Proteoglycans were extracted from bovine cornea with 4M-guanidinium chloride and purified by CsCl-density-gradient centrifugation. Under associative conditions two fractions were found: one capable of forming assemblies of high molecular weight and another lacking this property. The heavier fraction (density 1.59 g/ml) was eluted as a single retarded peak from Sepharose 2B, but on DEAE-Sephadex chromatography, gave two peaks: the first (eluted with 0.75 M-NaCl) contained mainly proteochondroitin sulphate and the second (eluted with 1.25 M-NaCl) mainly proteokeratan sulphate. Each of these proteoglycans was more retarded on Sepharose 2B than was the original sample from density-gradient centrifugation. Re-aggregation was obtained by recombination of the two fractions. The lighter fraction (density 1.44 g/ml), containing predominantly keratan sulphate chains, was eluted from DEAE-Sephadex as a single peak with 1.25 M-NaCl and was retarded on Sepharose 2B: this fraction was not able to form aggregates with proteochondroitin sulphate. Chemical analyses of the carbohydrate and protein moieties of the proteoglycans from DEAE-Sephadex confirmed that, in the cornea, different subunits are present with characteristic aggregation properties and hydrodynamic volumes.

Glycopeptides were extracted by papain digestion from old and young human erythrocyte membranes and fractionated on DEAE-Sephadex A-25. Chemical characterization of the unfractionated samples and of the main peak eluted from the column indicates that glycoproteins of the erythrocyte membrane undergo significant decreases in sialic acid and galactosamine content with aging.

Two types of proteoglycan subunits were obtained from bovine cornea, the first mainly composed of proteochondroitin sulphate and the second of proteokeratan sulphate. These two fractions can be obtained from the tissue as an aggregate, and are able to recombine each other after separation, to re-form the original structure. In order to investigate collagen-proteoglycan interactions, type-I collagen was isolated from bovine cornea by pepsin digestion followed by 3.5% (w/v) NaCl precipitation, and was then linked to CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B. Two identical columns were prepared, the first filled with collagen coupled to Sepharose 4B, the second with free Sepharose 4B. The two proteoglycan subunits and the aggregate were chromatographed on the two gels under the same conditions; the elution profiles showed that both the aggregate and the proteochondroitin sulphate subunit are retarded by the collagen coupled to Sepharose. No interaction, however, occurred when proteokeratan sulphate subunit was run through the columns. Chondroitinase digestion of the proteoglycan samples confirmed that chondroitin sulphate chains are mainly responsible for the interaction with collagen; their removal, in fact, completely abolishes any differences between the chromatographic behaviour on the collagen-Sepharose and the control columns.

Intact human erythrocytes incubated at 37 degrees C, pH7.4, release a sialoglycopeptide similar in its chemical composition, immunological and aggregation properties to the glycopeptide released by isolated 'ghost' membranes. The presence of ATP or reduced glutathione at physiological concentrations in the incubation medium of 'ghost' membranes inhibits this self-digestion process.

Thrombin treated with phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride, like active enzyme, promotes modifications to human platelet cytoskeleton. The removal of active thrombin by hirudin partially reverses this process. Chymotrypsin-treated platelets do not modify their cytoskeleton after thrombin stimulus, but are still able to increase their adhesiveness to collagen. It is concluded that thrombin influences the cytoskeleton and adhesion by non-enzymic mechanisms which may be mediated by different modulators.

Membranes from human O Rhesus-positive erythrocyte 'ghosts' were tested in vitro for their ability to digest their own glycoproteins. 'Ghost' membranes incubated in Tris/HCl buffer, pH 7.4, release a sialoglycopeptide, which contains glucosamine, galactosamine, galactose and mainly polar amino acids. Chemical composition, molecular size and aggregation properties suggest that this glycopeptide may be a fragment of glycophorin.

Results presented in this paper show that removal of white-cell contaminations from human red blood cells by filtration through cellulose [Beutler, West & Blume (1976) J. Lab. Clin. Med. 88, 328-333] is a necessity whenever red cells are incubated at elevated temperatures or haemolysed after density separation. Omission of this precaution results in proteolysis of sialoglycoproteins in membranes from less-dense (young), but not dense (old), subpopulations. This proteolytic damage occurs during haemolysis of the cytoplasmic domain of glycophorin. A different type of proteolysis occurs if white-cell-contaminated red cells are incubated in the absence of glucose at elevated temperatures. Red cells release sialoglycopeptides. This process is stimulated by Ca2+ ions and is accompanied by the release of vesicles that differ from spectrin-free vesicles [Lutz, Liu & Palek (1977) J. Cell Biol. 73, 548-560]. This sialoglycopeptide release is dependent on white-cell contamination and is not required for the release of spectrin-free vesicles.

1. UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.22) was extracted from epiphysial-plate cartilage of newborn pigs and from whole bovine corneas. 2. Formation of UDP-glucuronic acid was demonstrated by radioautography after separation of the sugar nucleotides by paper chromatography or t.l.c.: in these conditions a radioactive glucuronic acid spot also appears. 3. UDP-xylose prevented the formation in the incubation mixture of both UDP-glucuronic acid and free glucuronic acid. 4. In both tissues the dependence of the enzyme activity on pH and the K(m) values for UDP-glucose and NAD(+) were determined. 5. Inhibition by UDP-xylose with respect to UDP-glucose was investigated. The plots of 1/v versus 1/[UDP-glucose], and of percentage inhibition versus UDP-xylose concentration and the Hill coefficient showed that a co-operative effect existed between UDP-xylose-binding sites. 6. The physiological meaning of the different affinities of cartilage and cornea enzymes for UDP-xylose is discussed and related to the different glycosaminoglycan contents of the two connective tissues studied.

1. The role of UDP-xylose in the regulation of corneal glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis was investigated. Bovine corneas were incubated with [U-(14)C]-glucose in the presence and in the absence of the nucleotide, and the radioactivity of chondroitin, chondroitin sulphate and keratan sulphate, as well as of their monosaccharide constituents, was determined. 2. A decrease in the rate of biosynthesis of chondroitin and chondroitin sulphate and an increase in that of keratan sulphate were observed in the samples incubated with UDP-xylose. 3. The UDP-glucuronic acid isolated after the incubation in the presence of UDP-xylose showed a noticeable decrease in the amount of radioactivity incorporated; this result suggests that UDP-xylose inhibits the UDP-glucose dehydrogenase, causing an accumulation of UDP-glucose and consequently an increase in the formation of UDP-galactose and keratan sulphate. 4. Galactose and galactosamine isolated from the polysaccharides showed variations in the amount of radioactivity incorporated in accordance with those observed for the macromolecules; this fact confirms that in the system we used in vitro a real biosynthesis of the polysaccharide chain took place and that the regulatory effect of UDP-xylose was active at the monosaccharide level.