Mechanistic Study of Hemoglobin Induced Platelet Activation

Abstract 5262

Nitric oxide (NO) has been previously shown to inhibit adenosine diphosphate (ADP)- and thrombin- mediated platelet activation. This inhibitory effect of NO is blocked by cell-free oxyhemoglobin (Villagra, Shiva et al. 2007). Cell-free hemoglobin (Hb) also appears to directly activate platelets even in the absence of ADP. However, the precise mechanisms for cell-free Hb-induced platelet activation have not been fully delineated. We hypothesized that oxyhemoglobin can promote platelet activation through one of three potential mechanisms: 1) direct apoprotein interaction with platelet receptors, 2) reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and/or 3) scavenging of endogenous NO.

Platelets were isolated from whole blood obtained from healthy volunteers (n=15) using sodium citrate blood collection tubes. Platelet activation was measured by examining immunofluorescent Pac-1 labeling by flow cytometry using activated glycoprotein IIb/IIIa as a measure of activation. In the presence of 10 uM concentration of NO donor mahmaNONOate, ADP-induced platelet activation was inhibited by 44%. Incubation of 100 uM cell-free oxyhemoglobin eliminated the inhibitory effect of NO. In addition, cell-free oxyhemoglobin (100 uM concentration) induced platelet activation by 17% above unstimulated controls even in the absence of ADP.

Methemoglobin was used to test if direct Hb protein interaction with platelets was sufficient for platelet activation, independent of heme redox state. To produce methemoglobin, the ferrous iron in oxyhemoglobin was oxidized to its ferric form, thus methemoglobin is likely to preserve all direct protein interactions. However, unlike oxyhemoglobin, incubation of 100 uM methemoglobin did not induce platelet activation.

Next, we tested whether reactive oxygen species production was responsible for hemoglobin-induced platelet activation. In the absence of hemoglobin, superoxide dismutase (SOD) (100 U/ml) and catalase (100 U/ml) reduced baseline platelet activation, verifying a ROS (Pignatelli, Pulcinelli et al. 1998). However, in the presence of oxyhemoglobin, SOD and catalase did not significantly abrogate the effect of Hb on platelet activation, suggesting that the ROS superoxide and hydrogen peroxide are not involved in hemoglobin-induced platelet activation.

To determine if scavenging of endogenous NO was responsible for hemoglobin-induced platelet activation, platelets were incubated in the presence or absence of NO scavengers, carboxy-PTIO (5mM) and Fe-DTCS (3 mM), or nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, LNMMA (100 uM). Results from these investigations suggest scavenging of endogenous NO was not responsible for hemoglobin-induced platelet activation. Overall our data suggest a complex mechanism for oxyhemoglobin-mediated platelet activation that is likely to involve more than a single contributing pathway.

These data aid in elucidating the mechanism of platelet activation by cell-free hemoglobin and may provide novel insights to designing potential treatments to reduce the platelet activation underlying hypercoagulable states associated with a variety of pathological conditions including hemolytic anemias, stroke, and diabetes.

This work was supported by NIH grants HL058091 and HL098032