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Activation of blood platelets by thrombin was previously shown to specifically release protein kinase A, which in human plasma singles out and phosphorylates one protein, identified as vitronectin. This protein is known to be involved in processes that follow platelet stimulation, specifically, in the binding of heparin (interfering with the heparin-mediated inhibition of thrombin and Factor Xa by antithrombin III), in the growth of endothelial cells and in fibrinolysis. This paper shows that phosphorylation of vitronectin by protein kinase A is stoichiometric (approx. 1 mol/mol), that it is targeted to one site (Ser-378) at the C-terminal edge of the heparin-binding domain, and that it distinguishes between the two physiologically occurring forms of vitronectin: the one-chain (75 kDa) form, and the nicked two-chain (65 + 10 kDa) form, held together by an interchain disulphide bridge. Protein kinase A phosphorylates the one-chain form but not the two-chain form, although Ser-378 and the complete recognition sequence of the kinase are still present in the clipped 65 kDa chain. Cleavage of the Arg-379-Ala-380 bond results therefore in a conformationally distinct form of vitronectin in which Ser-378 is 'buried'. This is demonstrated by our finding that Ser-378 is present in the 65 kDa chain of clipped vitronectin but inaccessible to phosphorylation at physiological pH. Upon binding heparin, the phosphorylation site becomes exposed and able to undergo a stoichiometric phosphorylation at physiological pH.

In circulating blood, vitronectin occurs in two forms: a single-chain (75 kDa) and an endogenously clipped two-chain form (65 kDa and 10 kDa) held together by a disulfide bridge. The 75 kDa form was previously shown to be phosphorylated at Ser378 by protein kinase A, released by physiologically stimulated platelets. By contrast, at pH 7.5 the two-chain form is not phosphorylated at all. Heparin or heparan sulfate are shown here to modulate the conformation of clipped vitronectin at physiological pH, exposing Ser378 and allowing its stoichiometric phosphorylation by the kinase. At this pH the two-chain form of vitronectin in plasma exhibits a higher affinity for heparin, and behaves as a flexible molecule, which can conformationally respond to heparin and heparan sulfate, effectors involved in vitronectin function.

The catalytic subunit (C) of cAMP-dependent protein kinase selectively phosphorylates vitronectin, a plasma protein that promotes cell adhesion and platelet aggregation, inhibits the inactivation of thrombin by antithrombin III, and participates in complement function. This specific phosphorylation is used here (a) to develop an enzymatic assay for vitronectin (with C and [gamma-32P]ATP) which can be used to identify the vitronectin-containing fractions at each stage of its purification; (b) to radioactively label vitronectin and differentiate between the intact and the nicked form of this protein in structure-function studies; and (c) to identify possible vitronectin-related proteins in the plasma of other animal species.

Activation of freshly isolated human platelets with a physiological stimulant (thrombin) causes them to release a cAMP-dependent protein kinase which specifically phosphorylates one plasma protein (Mr 75000). This protein is immunochemically and biochemically identified as vitronectin (also know as S protein), which was previously implicated in blood clotting, complement function and cell adhesion.