Abstract
Platelets circulating in the human blood stream are smooth disk-shaped structures. The disks change within seconds of exposure to ADP or thrombin to irregular spheres bearing filopodia and pseudopodia. It is well-established that platelets also change shape (although more slowly) when chilled to 5°C1–5 and revert to disks on rewarming1,3. This cold-induced shape change may be due to the depolymerization of the submembranous microtubule ring. However, we found that chilling in the presence of Taxol, which stabilizes the microtubules, still results in shape change. Chilled platelets show an increase in the amount of myosin in the Triton-X insoluble residue or ‘cytoskeleton’6–9 which is correlated in time both with phosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain and with the induced shape change. We suggest here that the slow cold-induced change from disks to spheres is due primarily to a gradual activation of myosin.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Behnke, O. Int. Rev. exp. Path. 9, 1–92 (1970).
Bennett, W. F. & Lynch, G. J. Cell. Biol. 86, 280–285 (1980).
White, J. G. & Krumwiede, M. Blood 41, 823–832 (1973).
White, J. G. Am. J. Path. 108, 184–195 (1984).
Zucker, M. B. & Borrelli, J. Blood 9, 602–608 (1954).
Fox, J. E. B. & Phillips, D. R. J. biol. Chem. 257, 4120–4126 (1982).
Gonnella, P. A. & Nachmias, V. T. J. Cell Biol. 89, 746–751 (1981).
Lucas, R. C., Rosenberg, S., Shafiq, S., Stracher, A. & Lawrence, J. Protides Biol. Fluids 26, 465–470 (1978).
Nachmias, V. T. J. Cell Biol. 86, 795–802 (1980).
Hayashi, M., Ohnishi, K. & Hayashi, K. J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 87, 1347–1355 (1980).
Shimo-Oka, T., Hayashi, M. & Satanabe, Y. Biochemistry 21, 4921–4926 (1980).
Connolly, T. M. & Limbird, L. E. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 5320–5324 (1983).
Feinberg, H. W. et al. Biochim. biophys Acta 470, 317–324 (1977).
Leven, R. M., Mullikin, W. H. & Nachmias, V. T. J. Cell Biol. 96, 1234–1240 (1983).
Nachmias, V. T. Sem. Haemat. 20, 261–281 (1983).
Sandler, W. C., Le Breton, G. C. & Feinberg, H. Biochim. biophys. Acta. 600, 448–455 (1980).
Leven, R. M., Gonnella, P.A., Reeber, M. J. & Nachmias, V. T. Thromb. Haemostasis 49, 230–234 (1983).
Daniel, J. L., Molish, I. R. & Holmsen, H. L. J. biol. Chem. 256, 7510–7514 (1981).
Dabrowska, R. & Hartshorne, D. J. Biochem. biophys. Res. Comm. 85, 1352–1359 (1978).
Hathaway, D. R. & Adelstein, R. S. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 1653–1657 (1979).
Craig, R., Smith, R. & Kendrick-Jones, J. Nature 302, 436–439 (1983).
Scholey, J. M., Taylor, M. A. & Kendrick-Jones, J. Nature 287, 233–235 (1980).
Trybus, K. M., Huiatt, T. W. & Lowey, S. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 6151–6155 (1981).
Cox, A. C., Carroll, R. C., White, J. C. & Rao, G. H. R. J. Cell Biol. 98, 8–15 (1984).
Trotter, J. A. Biochem. biophys. Res. Comm. 106, 1071–1077 (1982).
Daniel, J. L., Molisch, I. R., Rigmaiden, M. & Stewart, G. J. biol. Chem. 259, 9826–9831 (1984).
Laemmli, U. K. Nature 227, 680–685 (1970).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nachmias, V., Kavaler, J. & Jacubowitz, S. Reversible association of myosin with the platelet cytoskeleton. Nature 313, 70–72 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/313070a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/313070a0
This article is cited by
-
The 'ins' and 'outs' of podosomes and invadopodia: characteristics, formation and function
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (2011)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
