@article{NavdaevSubramanianPetuninetal.2014,
  author    = {Navdaev, Alexey and Subramanian, Hariharan and Petunin, Alexey and Clemetson, Kenneth J. and Gambaryan, Stepan and Walter, Ulrich},
  title     = {Echicetin Coated Polystyrene Beads: A Novel Tool to Investigate GPIb-Specific Platelet Activation and Aggregation},
  series = {PLoS ONE},
  volume    = {9},
  journal   = {PLoS ONE},
  number    = {4},
  issn      = {1932-6203},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0093569},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119815},
  pages     = {e93569},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {von Willebrand factor/ristocetin (vWF/R) induces GPIb-dependent platelet agglutination and activation of αIIbβ3 integrin, which also binds vWF. These conditions make it difficult to investigate GPIb-specific signaling pathways in washed platelets. Here, we investigated the specific mechanisms of GPIb signaling using echicetin-coated polystyrene beads, which specifically activate GPIb. We compared platelet activation induced by echicetin beads to vWF/R. Human platelets were stimulated with polystyrene beads coated with increasing amounts of echicetin and platelet activation by echicetin beads was then investigated to reveal GPIb specific signaling. Echicetin beads induced αIIbβ3-dependent aggregation of washed platelets, while under the same conditions vWF/R treatment led only to αIIbβ3-independent platelet agglutination. The average distance between the echicetin molecules on the polystyrene beads must be less than 7 nm for full platelet activation, while the total amount of echicetin used for activation is not critical. Echicetin beads induced strong phosphorylation of several proteins including p38, ERK and PKB. Synergistic signaling via P2Y12 and thromboxane receptor through secreted ADP and TxA2, respectively, were important for echicetin bead triggered platelet activation. Activation of PKG by the NO/sGC/cGMP pathway inhibited echicetin bead-induced platelet aggregation. Echicetin-coated beads are powerful and reliable tools to study signaling in human platelets activated solely via GPIb and GPIb-triggered pathways.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SchneiderSchauliesMuellerAvotaetal.2014,
  author    = {Schneider-Schaulies, Sibylle and Mueller, Nora and Avota, Elita and Collenburg, Lena and Grassm{\´e}, Heike},
  title     = {Neutral Sphingomyelinase in Physiological and Measles Virus Induced T Cell Suppression},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.ppat.1004574},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111038},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {T cell paralysis is a main feature of measles virus (MV) induced immunosuppression. MV contact mediated activation of sphingomyelinases was found to contribute to MV interference with T cell actin reorganization. The role of these enzymes in MV-induced inhibition of T cell activation remained equally undefined as their general role in regulating immune synapse (IS) activity which relies on spatiotemporal membrane patterning. Our study for the first time reveals that transient activation of the neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (NSM2) occurs in physiological co-stimulation of primary T cells where ceramide accumulation is confined to the lamellum (where also NSM2 can be detected) and excluded from IS areas of high actin turnover. Genetic ablation of the enzyme is associated with T cell hyper-responsiveness as revealed by actin dynamics, tyrosine phosphorylation, Ca2+-mobilization and expansion indicating that NSM2 acts to suppress overshooting T cell responses. In line with its suppressive activity, exaggerated, prolonged NSM2 activation as occurring in co-stimulated T cells following MV exposure was associated with aberrant compartmentalization of ceramides, loss of spreading responses, interference with accumulation of tyrosine phosphorylated protein species and expansion. Altogether, this study for the first time reveals a role of NSM2 in physiological T cell stimulation which is dampening and can be abused by a virus, which promotes enhanced and prolonged NSM2 activation to cause pathological T cell suppression.},
  language  = {en}
}