Reduction of Phosphatidylserine Exposure through Copper Chelation Leads to Reduced Fibrin Deposition After Laser Induced Vascular Injury In Vivo.

Abstract 3049

Poster Board II-1025

Colocalization and assembly of blood coagulation factors in the presence of negatively charged phospholipids leads to a 1,000-fold increase in the rate of thrombin generation compared to the solution reaction. We have established prothrombin fragment 1, the region of prothrombin containing the γ-carboxy-glutamic acid domain, as a probe for anionic phospholipids including phosphatidylserine. Prothrombin fragment 1 binds with high affinity to phosphatidylserine-containing membranes in vitro and identifies phosphatidylserine exposure relevant for the site of assembly of coagulation complexes in vivo. In order to determine the effect of phosphatidylserine exposure on thrombus formation during the laser injury model in vivo, we treated mice orally with the Cu²⁺ chelator tetrathiomolybdate for one week prior to study. This treatment has been shown to suppress phosphatidylserine exposure in rats (PNAS, 100: 6700-05, 2003). After copper chelator treatment, normal partial thromboplastin times (39 sec vs 42 sec, p=0.5) and whole blood counts in treated versus untreated mice were similar, suggesting that copper chelation did not affect the function of coagulation factors or total blood cell counts. Annexin V and Prothrombin fragment 1 were also used to measure phosphatidylserine exposure after thrombin (1 U/ml) stimulation of washed platelets using flow cytometric analysis. Platelets from untreated mice exhibited 2-fold increase in binding of both Annexin V and Prothrombin fragment 1 after thrombin stimulation; these values are similar to those previously reported. In contrast, the platelets of treated mice did not expose phosphatidylserine upon thrombin stimulation. Treatment with copper chelator did not affect platelet degranulation, as determined by surface exposure of P-selectin in flow cytometry. In addition, total phospholipid content and the ratio of outer to inner membrane phospholipids was not affected by treatment with copper chelator, suggesting that any reduction in detection of phosphatidylserine was due to reduction in exposure on the cell surface in response to an appropriate stimulus rather than reduced biosynthesis. Fluorescently conjugated Prothrombin fragment 1 or fluorescently conjugated antibody directed against phosphatidylserine were used as probes to follow the kinetics of phosphatidylserine exposure after the laser injury of cremaster muscle arterioles of a living mouse using high speed fluorescence intravital microscopy. Endogenous platelets were labeled with a fluorescently conjugated Fab fragment of an anti-CD41 antibody and fibrin deposition was measured using a fluorescently conjugated antibody that recognizes fibrin but not fibrinogen. We observed a 42% reduction (median of 18 thrombi, p=0.02) in Prothrombin fragment 1 binding and a 60% reduction (median of 27 thrombi, p=0.0002) in anti-phosphatidylserine binding after laser injury compared to untreated animals (n=58 thrombi). The accumulation of platelets during thrombus formation was not affected by the treatment when compared to untreated mice (p=0.4). On the other hand, fibrin deposition was reduced by 64% in treated mice (median of 38 thrombi, p=0.001) when compared to untreated animals (39 of thrombi). These data suggest that suppression of phosphatidylserine exposure reduces assembly of coagulation complexes resulting in a suboptimal concentration of thrombin for full fibrin generation but sufficient thrombin to activate platelets to yield a normal platelet thrombus. This emphasizes the importance of the exposure of anionic phospholipids as the surface for the colocalization of the coagulation complexes in vivo.