Participation of Calpain in Protein-Tyrosine Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation in Human Blood Platelets

Abstract The possible role of calpains in protein-tyrosine phosphorylation in platelets was examined by the use of the cell-permeant calpain inhibitor calpeptin. In platelets stimulated by 1 U/mL thrombin, protein-tyrosine phosphorylation was maximal after 2 minutes and was followed by protein-tyrosine dephosphorylation. Calpeptin (30 μmol/L) or vanadate (2 mmol/L) enhanced protein-tyrosine phosphorylation and delayed protein-tyrosine dephosphorylation. The effects of these two compounds were not additive. We also observed proteolysis of pp60src and autoproteolysis of μ-calpain. Cleavage of the former was significantly slower than that of the latter and slower than protein-tyrosine dephosphorylation. The activity of protein-tyrosine phosphatase in the platelet lysate was transiently increased to 190% by addition of Ca2+. Ca2+-dependent activation of protein-tyrosine phosphatase was not observed in the presence of leupeptin. Those observations suggest that platelet calpains may be involved in modulation of protein-tyrosine phosphorylation through activation of protein-tyrosine phosphatase rather than through the inactivation of pp60src, a mechanism that was previously suggested.