1. α-Synuclein is the major platelet isoform but is dispensable for activation, secretion, and thrombosis.
- Author
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Smith AN, Joshi S, Chanzu H, Alfar HR, Shravani Prakhya K, and Whiteheart SW
- Subjects
- Animals, Mice, Blood Platelets metabolism, Cytoplasmic Granules metabolism, Exocytosis physiology, Mice, Knockout, Platelet Activation, Protein Isoforms metabolism, SNARE Proteins metabolism, alpha-Synuclein genetics, alpha-Synuclein metabolism, Thrombosis metabolism
- Abstract
Platelets play many roles in the vasculature ensuring proper hemostasis and maintaining integrity. These roles are facilitated, in part, by cargo molecules released from platelet granules via S oluble N SF A ttachment P rotein R eceptor (SNARE) mediated membrane fusion, which is controlled by several protein-protein interactions. Chaperones have been characterized for t-SNAREs ( i.e . Munc18b for Syntaxin-11), but none have been clearly identified for v-SNAREs. α-Synuclein has been proposed as a v-SNARE chaperone which may affect SNARE-complex assembly, fusion pore opening, and thus secretion. Despite its abundance and that it is the only isoform present, α-synuclein's role in platelet secretion is uncharacterized. In this study, immunofluorescence showed that α-synuclein was present on punctate structures that co-stained with markers for α-granules and lysosomes and in a cytoplasmic pool. We analyzed the phenotype of α-synuclein
-/- mice and their platelets. Platelets from knockout mice had a mild, agonist-dependent secretion defect but aggregation and spreading in vitro were unaffected. Consistently, thrombosis/hemostasis were unaffected in the tail-bleeding, FeCl3 carotid injury and jugular vein puncture models. None of the platelet secretory machinery examined, e.g . the v-SNAREs, were affected by α-synuclein's loss. The results indicate that, despite its abundance, α-synuclein has only a limited role in platelet function and thrombosis.- Published
- 2023
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