Thromb Haemost 1993; 70(06): 1043-1046
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1649722
Original Article
Von Willebrand Factor and Endothelial Cells
Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart

Adenosine Diphosphate Stimulates the Endothelial Release of Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator but not von Willebrand Factor from Isolated-Perfused Rat Hind Limbs

David M Smalley
The Department of Pathology, Vision-lmmunology Center, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA
,
John E Fitzgerald
The Department of Pathology, Vision-lmmunology Center, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA
,
James O'Rourke
The Department of Pathology, Vision-lmmunology Center, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Received 19 April 1993

Accepted after revision 11 August 1993

Publication Date:
06 July 2018 (online)

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Summary

The acute release of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) activity and of von Willebrand Factor (vWF) antigen from vascular endothelium was studied ex vivo using the rat hindquarter isolated perfusion model. The release of these proteins has been reported to occur simultaneously in response to a variety of endothelial cell agonists including bradykinin, thrombin and platelet activating factor. It has therefore been suggested that similar endothelial cell pathways and mechanisms are involved in the release of t-PA and vWF in vivo.

This paper shows that the releases of t-PA and of vWF are not always closely linked and may depend on the agonist utilized to effect release. In our hands, the bradykinin-induced release of these proteins appears to be essentially identical, but this is not true for adenosine diphosphate (ADP). Rather, ADP is capable of causing the acute release of t-PA without the simultaneous release of vWF in the ex vivo rat hindquarter model. This indicates that the bradykinin- and ADP-induced pathways for t-PA release are probably distinct and that the releases of t-PA and vWF are not as closely linked as previously believed.