Removing the Covalent Links between GP Ibα and GP Ibβ Hampers Binding of von Willebrand Factor to GP Ib-IX Complex in CHO Cells.

In the glycoprotein (GP) Ib-IX complex, GP Ibα contains the binding region for its ligand von Willebrand factor (vWF). How the other subunits in the complex, GP Ibβ and GP IX, regulate the GP Ibα-vWF interaction is not clear. Since GP Ibα connects with two GP Ibβ subunits via disulfide bonds, these inter-subunit covalent links may be important to the proper vWF-binding activity of the GP Ib-IX complex. To test this idea, we have obtained Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing the mutant GP Ib-IX complex (CHOα_SSβIX) in which both residues C484 and C485 of GP Ibα were changed to Ser. As expected, the mutant GP Ibα did not form any disulfide bonds with GP Ibβ in these cells. Nonetheless, co-immunoprecipitation experiments in the digitonin-containing buffer demonstrated that association of GP Ibα with GP Ibβ and GP IX was retained in CHOα_SSβIX cells. The expression level of GP Ibα in CHOα_SSβIX cells, detected by its binding to WM23, a conformation-insensitive antibody, was comparable to that in the transfected cells stably expressing the wild type GP Ib-IX complex (CHOαβIX). In contrast, binding of CHOα_SSβIX cells to AK2, SZ2 or AN51, all of which are GP Ibα-specific conformation-sensitive antibodies, was significantly different from that of CHOαβIX cells. Compared to CHOαβIX cells, ristocetin-induced binding of CHOα_SSβIX cells to vWF under static conditions was reduced by about 50% as determined by flow cytometry. Consistently, rolling of CHOα_SSβIX cells on the vWF-coated glass slide was significantly faster than CHOαβIX cells under various flow conditions. Thus, in a transfected cell model, removing the disulfide links between GP Ibα and GP Ibβ in the GP Ib-IX complex leads to an alteration in the conformation of the ligand-binding domain in GP Ibα and as a consequence hampers the complex binding to vWF. Our finding suggests that the relative position of GP Ibα and GP Ibβ in the receptor complex is crucial to its vWF-binding activity, which may be exploited to modulate the GP Ibα-vWF interaction.