Outside-in signaling through integrins mediates numerous anchorage-dependent cellular responses (
Aplin et al., 1998;
Giancotti and Ruoslahti, 1999;
Schwartz, 2001). Components of the actin cytoskeleton are particularly important targets of integrin signals because they are often concentrated within integrin-based adhesion structures known as focal complexes and focal adhesions, and they participate in the regulation of cell shape and gene expression (
Schoenwaelder and Burridge, 1999;
Geiger et al., 2001). In adherent cells, an increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of cytoskeletal and signaling proteins is one of the most prominent events within actin-rich filopodia, lamellipodia, and focal adhesions (
Hall, 1998;
Geiger et al., 2001;
Schwartz, 2001). In fibroblasts, the cell types most commonly studied in this regard, Src and FAK, have been identified as a prominent signaling complex that functions downstream of integrins to regulate cell migration and focal adhesion turnover (
Guan, 1997;
Polte and Hanks, 1997;
Schlaepfer et al., 1997;
Schaller et al., 1999). In hematopoietic cells, including platelets, Syk has been identified as a third type of tyrosine kinase that is activated by integrins (
Clark et al., 1994;
Lin et al., 1995). In fact, platelet adhesion to fibrinogen stimulates both the direct association of Syk with the cytoplasmic tail of β3 and Syk activation (
Woodside et al., 2001). Unlike activation of FAK, Syk activation in adherent platelets precedes actin polymerization, and Syk substrates, including Vav1 and SLP-76, have been implicated in cytoskeletal regulation (
Miranti et al., 1998;
Judd et al., 2000;
Obergfell et al., 2001). Therefore, Syk may participate in the initiation of αIIbβ3-dependent actin polymerization and platelet spreading. Src is also activated during platelet aggregation (
Clark and Brugge, 1993), but its precise role in outside-in signaling in platelets has not been established.
Human- and gene-targeted mouse platelets were used here to define the relationships between αIIbβ3, Src, and Syk in outside-in signaling. The major new findings are: (a) Src and its regulatory kinase, Csk, are constitutively associated with αIIbβ3 in resting platelets. (b) Upon soluble fibrinogen binding to αIIbβ3 or platelet adhesion to immobilized fibrinogen, Csk dissociates from αIIbβ3 and Src becomes activated, independent of actin polymerization. Activated Src localizes to the periphery of spreading platelets, including filopodia. (c) The activity of Src is required for αIIbβ3-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of Syk and for platelet spreading on fibrinogen. (d) Syk is also required for platelet spreading but not for Src activation. Thus, outside-in signaling in platelets is initiated by the sequential activation of Src and Syk in proximity to αIIbβ3, providing a molecular basis for signal generation from αIIbβ3 to the actin cytoskeleton.
Immunoprecipitation analysis of NP-40 detergent extracts revealed that Src and the related kinases, Fyn and Yes, were associated with αIIbβ3, both before and after platelet adhesion to fibrinogen. These interactions are specific because no association was observed between αIIbβ3 and two other nonreceptor tyrosine kinases, Pyk2 and Btk. Furthermore, Src did not coprecipitate with GP Ibα, another abundant platelet membrane adhesion receptor (). These results are consistent with a brief report that Src coprecipitates with αIIbβ3 from Triton X-100 lysates of resting platelets (
Kralisz and Cierniewski, 1998). In another study,
Dorahy et al. (1995) detected association of Src (and Lyn) with αIIbβ3, but only in the presence of a cell-permeable chemical cross-linker which simultaneously activated the platelets. Our ability to detect Src, Fyn, and Yes in αIIbβ3 immunoprecipitates without cross-linkers reflects differences in the conditions used for platelet preparation and analysis. Although we did not analyze αIIbβ3 immunoprecipitates for all Src family members expressed in platelets, these results indicate that Src associates with and is regulated by αIIbβ3, and this functional relationship may extend to some other Src family members.
These studies do not resolve whether the association of Src with αIIbβ3 is direct or indirect. Several proteins are capable of binding directly to the cytoplasmic tails of αIIb or β3 in vitro, and one of these might serve to link Src to αIIbβ3 in platelets (
Shattil et al., 1998;
Liu et al., 2000;
Phillips et al., 2001). FAK and Syk warrant discussion in this regard. FAK can bind to peptides derived from integrin β tails (
Schaller et al., 1995), and we found it to be associated with αIIbβ3 in platelet lysates (). Furthermore, when FAK becomes auto-phosphorylated at Tyr-397 in adherent fibroblasts, it forms a bimolecular complex with Src (
Guan, 1997;
Polte and Hanks, 1997;
Schaller et al., 1999;
Schaller, 2001). However, a FAK–Src complex cannot mediate the interaction we observed between αIIbβ3 and Src in platelets because, in contrast to FAK activation, the αIIbβ3/Src association was neither adhesion-dependent nor inhibited by cytochalasin D ( B). Syk is also unlikely to serve as a necessary link between Src and αIIbβ3 because it coprecipitated with the integrin only after platelet adhesion (), even in Syk-null platelets () (
Woodside et al., 2001). The precise mode of interaction between αIIbβ3 and Src remains to be determined.
How does fibrinogen binding to αIIbβ3 lead to activation of Src? Src is stabilized in an inactive conformation by intramolecular interactions of the SH2 domain with pTyr-529 and the SH3 domain with a polyproline helix in the SH2 kinase linker region (
Xu et al., 1999;
Young et al., 2001). Tyr-529 is likely maintained in the phosphorylated state by Csk (
Okada et al., 1991;
Latour and Veillette, 2001), a kinase that was associated with αIIbβ3 in nonadherent platelets. Fibrinogen interaction with platelets resulted in the dissociation of Csk (but not Src) from αIIbβ3 ( and ), suggesting that Src may become activated at integrin adhesion sites following its physical separation from Csk. This idea is consistent with the localization of activated Src to filopodia and edges of fibrinogen-adherent platelets (), and with the observation that only the integrin-associated pool of Src became activated in such platelets (). In T lymphocytes, the proximity of Csk to Src kinases is influenced by specific transmembrane proteins, such as PAG/Cbp, which are enriched in lipid rafts and bind Csk when tyrosine-phosphorylated (
Brdicka et al., 2000;
Kawabuchi et al., 2000). PAG/Cbp is also present in platelets (
Watson et al., 2001), but additional studies will be required to determine if it is involved in regulating the association of Csk with αIIbβ3. Fibrinogen binding to platelets might also activate Src by influencing the localization or activity of a protein tyrosine phosphatase that can dephosphorylate Src Tyr-529. Three such phosphatases have been implicated in integrin signaling in other cell types, including receptor-like protein-tyrosine phosphatase-α, PTP-1B, and SHP-2 (
Oh et al., 1999;
Su et al., 1999;
Cheng et al., 2001). In theory, Src might also be subject to regulation in platelets by proteins within nascent adhesion sites that engage the Src SH2 or SH3 domains (
Xu et al., 1999;
Young et al., 2001).
The results with PP2 and SU6656 strongly suggest that αIIbβ3-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of Syk and platelet spreading on fibrinogen are controlled by an Src kinase. The defect in spreading of murine platelets lacking Src, Fgr, Hck, and Lyn confirms this assessment, and the normal spreading of platelets lacking Fgr, Hck, and Lyn suggests that Src itself plays a dominant role. However, the current studies do not exclude the involvement of other Src family members in specific phases of outside-in signaling.
PP2 and SU6656 blocked adhesion-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of the Rac exchange factors, Vav1 and Vav3, and the molecular adaptor, SLP-76, all of which have been implicated in cytoskeletal regulation downstream of integrins in hematopoietic cells () (
Cichowski et al., 1996;
Judd et al., 2000;
Moores et al., 2000). Since these proteins are direct substrates of Syk, the results imply that Src kinases lie upstream of Syk in an αIIbβ3 pathway, possibly directly upstream. Although not studied, other substrates of Src kinases and Syk, such as cortactin and tubulin, might also couple αIIbβ3 to cytoskeletal events (
Gallet et al., 1999;
Faruki et al., 2000). Unlike Syk activation by immune response receptors that contain ITAM domains, αIIbβ3 activation of Syk is ITAM-independent (
Gao et al., 1997;
Turner et al., 2000;
Woodside et al., 2001). Based on the current results, we speculate that fibrinogen binding to platelets induces clustering of αIIbβ3 complexes, leading to activation of Src kinases, interaction of Syk with the cytoplasmic tail of β3, and activation of Syk by the Src kinases. Activation of additional Syk molecules might then proceed by autophosphorylation in trans.
Syk−/− mouse platelets have a very subtle defect in agonist-induced fibrinogen binding (
Law et al., 1999), and a profound defect in aggregation induced by collagen (
Watson and Gibbins, 1998). These abnormalities cannot explain the spreading defect we observed in fibrinogen-adherent
syk−/− platelets () because no agonists were added in this experiment, and agonists are not required for platelet attachment to immobilized fibrinogen via αIIbβ3 (
Savage et al., 1992;
Law et al., 1999). By the same token, neither Src nor Syk were required for agonist enhancement of platelet spreading on fibrinogen (). Like platelets, Syk-deficient neutrophils exhibit defective integrin-dependent responses, such as the respiratory burst (unpublished data).
Although integrins and Src kinases are ubiquitous, Syk was thought until recently to be confined to hematopoietic cells. However, Syk is more widely distributed and may regulate the anchorage-dependent growth of epithelial and endothelial cells (
Coopman et al., 2000;
Inatome et al., 2001;
Tsujimura et al., 2001;
Yamada et al., 2001). Moreover, Syk can interact with integrin β1 and β2 tails as well as β3 (Woodside, D., and M. Ginsberg, personal communication), and our preliminary studies indicate that Src is associated with β1 integrins in platelets. Consequently, some of the functions attributable to Syk in hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cells may require coordinated interactions between integrins, Src, and Syk. Thus, the paradigm delineated here for initiation of outside-in αIIbβ3 signaling in platelets may be relevant to integrins in a variety of biological contexts.