Premium
The role of Sec1/Munc18 proteins in platelet secretion
Author(s) -
Ye Shaojing,
Ren Qiansheng,
Whiteheart Sidney W
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a245-e
Subject(s) - syntaxin , exocytosis , syntaxin 3 , microbiology and biotechnology , munc 18 , secretion , chemistry , platelet , snare complex , lysosome , biology , immunology , biochemistry , synaptic vesicle , membrane , vesicle , enzyme
Exocytosis from platelets is a critical event in hemostasis. The components released are important for thrombus formation and wound repair. Our laboratory has identified the core secretory machinery or SNAREs required for platelet secretion. VAMP‐8, SNAP‐23 and syntaxin 2 are required for all three release events and syntaxin 4 is important for alpha granule and lysosome release. We have next turned to SNARE regulatory proteins of the Sec1/Munc18 (SM) family. These proteins play an essential role in exocytosis, but the exact molecular functions remain elusive. We have expressed the three relevant Munc18/syntaxin heterodimers (Munc18a/syntaxin 2, Munc18c/syntaxin 4, and Munc18c/syntaxin 2) in E. coli and are using these complexes as affinity ligands to identify potential regulators in platelets. We have also generated the relevant t‐SNARE heterodimers (SNAP‐23/syntaxin 2 and SNAP‐23/syntaxin 4) to use for the same purpose. Studies are underway to identify platelet proteins that interact with these important complexes. These results will help us to propose the model for Munc18's regulatory role in platelet secretion. This project is supported by a grant from NIHLB to SWW and AHA to QR.