Actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets

The extent of actin polymerization in unstimulated, discoid platelets was measured by DNase I inhibition assay in Triton X-100 lysates of platelets washed at 37 degrees C by gel filtration, or in Triton X-100 lysates of platelets washed at ambient temperatures by centrifugation in the presence of pr...

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Format: Online
Language:English
Published: The Rockefeller University Press 1984
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2113059/
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recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-21130592008-05-01 Actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets Articles The extent of actin polymerization in unstimulated, discoid platelets was measured by DNase I inhibition assay in Triton X-100 lysates of platelets washed at 37 degrees C by gel filtration, or in Triton X-100 lysates of platelets washed at ambient temperatures by centrifugation in the presence of prostacyclin. About 40% of the actin in the discoid platelets obtained by either method existed as filaments. These filaments could be visualized by electron microscopy of thin sections. Similar results were obtained when the actin filament content of discoid platelets was measured by sedimentation of filaments from Triton X-100 lysates at high g forces (145,000 g for 45 min). However, few of these filaments sedimented at the lower g forces often used to isolate networks of actin filaments from cell extracts. These results indicate that actin filaments in discoid cells are not highly crosslinked. Platelets isolated by centrifugation in the absence of prostacyclin were not discoid, but were instead irregular with one or more pseudopodia. These platelets also contained approximately 40-50% of their actin in a filamentous form; many of these filaments sedimented at low g forces, however, indicating that they were organized into networks. The discoid shape of these centrifuged platelets could be restored by incubating them for 1-3 h at 37 degrees C, which resulted in the reversal of filament organization. High g forces were then required for the sedimentation of the actin. Approximately 80-90% of the actin in platelets washed at 4 degrees C was filamentous; this high actin filament content could be attributed to actin polymerization during the preparation of the platelets at low temperatures. These studies show that platelet activation involves mechanisms for the structural reorganization of existing filaments, in addition to those previously described for mediating actin polymerization. The Rockefeller University Press 1984-06-01 /pmc/articles/PMC2113059/ /pubmed/6233292 Text en This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.rupress.org/terms). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 4.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
title Actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets
spellingShingle Actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets
title_short Actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets
title_full Actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets
title_fullStr Actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets
title_full_unstemmed Actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets
title_sort actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets
description The extent of actin polymerization in unstimulated, discoid platelets was measured by DNase I inhibition assay in Triton X-100 lysates of platelets washed at 37 degrees C by gel filtration, or in Triton X-100 lysates of platelets washed at ambient temperatures by centrifugation in the presence of prostacyclin. About 40% of the actin in the discoid platelets obtained by either method existed as filaments. These filaments could be visualized by electron microscopy of thin sections. Similar results were obtained when the actin filament content of discoid platelets was measured by sedimentation of filaments from Triton X-100 lysates at high g forces (145,000 g for 45 min). However, few of these filaments sedimented at the lower g forces often used to isolate networks of actin filaments from cell extracts. These results indicate that actin filaments in discoid cells are not highly crosslinked. Platelets isolated by centrifugation in the absence of prostacyclin were not discoid, but were instead irregular with one or more pseudopodia. These platelets also contained approximately 40-50% of their actin in a filamentous form; many of these filaments sedimented at low g forces, however, indicating that they were organized into networks. The discoid shape of these centrifuged platelets could be restored by incubating them for 1-3 h at 37 degrees C, which resulted in the reversal of filament organization. High g forces were then required for the sedimentation of the actin. Approximately 80-90% of the actin in platelets washed at 4 degrees C was filamentous; this high actin filament content could be attributed to actin polymerization during the preparation of the platelets at low temperatures. These studies show that platelet activation involves mechanisms for the structural reorganization of existing filaments, in addition to those previously described for mediating actin polymerization.
publisher The Rockefeller University Press
publishDate 1984
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2113059/
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