Effector Cell Protease Receptor-1, a Platelet Activation-dependent Membrane Protein, Regulates Prothrombinase-catalyzed Thrombin Generation

At sites of vascular injury thrombin is generated via prothrombinase, a stoichiometric (1:1), Ca 2+ -dependent, and membrane-bound complex consisting of the nonenzymatic cofactor factor Va and the serine protease factor Xa. While the importance of anionic platelet membrane phospholipids in regulating thrombin generation is well recognized, the identification of regulatory protein receptors has eluded investigators. This study reports the first description of a human platelet membrane protein that regulates prothrombinase complex assembly and function. Direct platelet-protein binding studies indicated that, although required, platelet-bound factor Va alone is insufficient to mediate factor Xa binding, and that factor Va and factor Xa bind to discrete sites on activated platelets for which expression is independently regulated as a function of the agonist concentration. When specific monoclonal antibodies against effector cell protease receptor-1 (EPR-1, a 65-kDa membrane receptor for factor Xa) were used in Western blotting, immunohistochemical staining, and/or flow cytometric analyses, activated platelets and their precursors, megakaryocytes, were shown to express EPR-1. These results were confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of mRNA extracted from megakaryocyte-like cell lines. Additional flow cytometric studies demonstrated that a platelet-bound factor Va/factor Xa complex precluded binding of the anti-EPR-1 antibody, B6, to activated platelets by ∼50%. Likewise, the anti-EPR-1 antibody was shown to inhibit prothrombinase-catalyzed thrombin generation on activated platelets in a dose- and platelet donor-dependent manner, indicating that platelet-expressed EPR-1 mediates factor Xa assembly into the prothrombinase complex. These collective data indicate that both EPR-1 and membrane-bound factor Va are required to mediate factor Xa binding to the activated platelet to form a functional prothrombinase complex.