Regulated Shedding of sema4D from the Platelet Surface Produces a Bioactive Second Messenger in Thrombotic Disorders.

Proteins that are expressed on the platelet surface can participate in contact-dependent signaling events which modulate thrombus formation or, after being shed from the platelet surface, serve as bioactive messengers that affect the function of nearby cells. Here we show for the first time that platelets express the class IV semaphorin known as sema4D or CD100, and that platelet activation causes the regulated shedding of the sema4D extracellular domain in a biologically-active form. Sema4D is a glycosylated 150 kDa disulfide-linked homodimer that has previously been implicated in interactions between T-cells and B-cells. Platelet activation by collagen, thrombin or PMA causes a transient increase in sema4D surface expression peaking at 15 min, followed by a complete loss of expression over 30–60 minutes. These events are accompanied by the release of the sema4D exodomain as a 130 kDa fragment, leaving a 25–30 kDa transmembrane and cytoplasmic domain fragment that is retained by the platelets. The cleavage event required to produce these fragments is inhibited by metalloprotease inhibitors and abolished in platelets from chimeric mice lacking the metalloprotease known as ADAM17 or TACE (TNF alpha converting enzyme). Incubation of recombinant sema4D with ADAM17 identified a single cleavage site just outside the predicted transmembrane domain. Western blots show that human platelets express ADAM17 in both its immature (zymogen) and mature (active) forms, and indicate that at least some of the ADAM17 is located on the platelet surface. ADAM17-dependent cleavage of sema4D does not require platelet aggregation, but the rate is accelerated when aggregation is allowed to occur and slowed when aggregation is prevented. Under both sets of conditions, cleavage of sema4D occurs to a greater extent and more rapidly than the ADAM17-dependent cleavage of GP Ib alpha, suggesting that there is a hierarchy of proteolytic events when platelets are activated. In terms of biological impact, the shedding of sema4D following platelet activation raises the possibility that the soluble extracellular domain of sema4D serves as a bioactive messenger. Two receptors for sema4D have been identified previously: CD72, which is present on lymphocytes where it regulates the activity of the tyrosine phosphatase, SHP-1, and plexin-B1, which is expressed in endothelial cells. Western blots suggest that both of these receptors are expressed on human platelets and show that SHP-1 is associated with CD72 in resting, but not activated platelets. Taken together, these results demonstrate that sema4D undergoes regulated ADAM17-dependent shedding when platelets are activated, and suggest that this results in the production of a bioactive form of the molecule that can affect responses in nearby platelets, lymphocytes and endothelial cells at sites of thrombosis.