Platelet cytosolic 44-kDa protein is a substrate of cholera toxin-induced ADP-ribosylation and is not recognized by antisera against the alpha subunit of the stimulatory guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory protein.

ADP-ribosylation induced by cholera toxin and pertussis toxin was studied in particulate and cytosolic fractions of human platelets. Platelets were disrupted by a cycle of freezing and thawing in the presence of a hyposmotic buffer containing protease inhibitors. In both fractions, the A subunit of cholera toxin ADP-ribosylates two proteins with molecular masses of 42 and 44 kDa, whereas pertussis toxin ADP-ribosylates a 41-kDa polypeptide. Two antisera against the alpha subunit of the stimulatory guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory protein recognize only the 42-kDa polypeptide. Cholera toxin-induced ADP-ribosylation of the 42- and 44-kDa proteins is reduced by pretreatment of platelets with iloprost, a prostacyclin analog. The 44-kDa protein, which is substrate of cholera toxin, could be extracted completely from the membrane and recovered in the cytosolic fraction when the cells were disrupted by Dounce homogenization and the pellet was extensively washed. A 44-kDa protein can also be labeled with 8-azidoguanosine 5'-[alpha-32P]triphosphate in the cytosol and membranes. These findings indicate that cholera and pertussis toxins produced covalent modifications of proteins present in particulate and cytosolic platelet fractions. Moreover, the 44-kDa protein might be an alpha subunit of a guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory protein that is not recognized by available antisera.

Phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate and 1-oleyl-2-acetyldiacylglycerol stimulate inositol trisphosphate dephosphorylation in human platelets.

Inositol trisphosphate (IP3) is formed in response to specific agonists that cause activation of phospholipase C and degradation of phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate. IP3 is a second messenger that releases Ca2+ from the dense tubular system to the cytosol in stimulated platelets. Our present information indicates that [3H]IP3 is dephosphorylated to [3H]inositol bisphosphate (IP2) and [3H]inositol monophosphate (IP) by human platelets treated with 0.05-0.10% Triton X-100. This dephosphorylation of [3H]IP3 to [3H]IP2 and [3H]IP is also observed when platelets are permeabilized by electrical stimulation or by 20 micrograms/ml saponin. These detergents or electropermeabilization allow IP3 to access cytosolic IP3 phosphatase. Pretreatment of intact platelets with phorbol dibutyrate and 1-oleyl-2-acetyldiacylglycerol for 30 s, at concentrations that maximally activate protein kinase C, stimulates the conversion of IP3 to IP2 and IP. This suggests a role for protein kinase C in the regulation of IP3 degradation.