Primary Structure of Human Platelet Factor 4.

Abstract
The amino acid sequence of human platelet factor 4 (PF4) has been studied. PF4 is a platelet specific protein with antiheparin activity, released from platelets as a proteoglycan complex, whose measurement may provide an important index of platelet activation both in vivo and in vitro. These studies were undertaken to characterize fully the PF4 molecule. PF4 is a stable tetramer, composed of identical subunits, each with a molecular weight based on the sequence studies of approx. 7,770. Each PF4 subunit contains 69 amino acids, including 4 half-cystine (# 10, 12, 36, 37), one tyrosine (# 59), 3 arginine and 8 lysine, but no methionine, phenylalanine or tryptophan residues. The basic residues are predominantly in the C-terminal region. The tryptic peptides were aligned after studies which included tryptic digestion of citraconylated RCM-PF4, and automated Edman degradation of RCM-PF4 and citraconylated tryptic peptides. No glycopeptides were detected. This structural information should enable clear distinction to be made between PF4 and other platelet proteins such as β thromboglobulin. The provisional amino acid sequence of each subunit is:Glu-Ala-Glu-Glu-Asp-Gly-Asp-Leu-Gln-Cys-Leu-Cys-Val-Lys-Thr-Thr-Ser-Gln-Val-Arg-Pro-Arg-His-Ile-Thr-Ser-Leu-Glu-Val-Ile-Lys-Ala-Gly-Pro-His-Cys-Cys-Pro-Thr-Ala-Gln-Ile-Leu-Ala-Thr-Leu-Lys-Asn-Gly-Arg-Lys-Ile-Pro-Leu-Asp-Leu-Gln-Ala-Tyr-Leu-Lys-Ile-Lys(Lys, Lys, Ser, Glx, Leu, Leu)

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: