Rapid procoagulant phosphatidylserine exposure relies on high cytosolic calcium rather than on mitochondrial depolarization.

OBJECTIVE

Relationships between intracellular Ca(2+) concentration (Ca(2+)) and apoptotic events, such as mitochondrial depolarization (DeltaPsim loss) and Bcl-2 and Bad phosphorylation, were analyzed in platelets and Jurkat cells in relation to rapid procoagulant phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Platelets were stimulated with A23187, thapsigargin (TG) and thrombin plus convulxin (Thr/Cvx), and Jurkat cells with ionomycin, in the presence or absence of cyclosporin A (CsA), a mitochondrial permeability transition pore inhibitor. DeltaPsim loss occurred when platelets were stimulated in Ca(2+) medium in conditions exposing PS, but also in EGTA medium. CsA inhibited PS exposure, Ca(2+) increase, and DeltaPsim loss in platelets stimulated with TG and Thr/Cvx, but had no inhibitory effect on A23187 stimulation. CsA reduced TG-induced Ca(2+) release from the endoplasmic reticulum and, consequently, external Ca(2+) influx. In ionomycin-stimulated Jurkat cells, rapid PS exposure was evidenced but not DeltaPsim loss, and CsA did not inhibit the process. The status of phosphorylated Bad and Bcl-2 in both cell types remained unchanged on stimulation.

CONCLUSIONS

Whether DeltaPsim loss occurs or not, PS exposure is triggered by a high Ca(2+) increase. Data further demonstrate that CsA prevents membrane scrambling by inhibiting the high Ca(2+) increase, independently of its effect on mitochondrial permeability transition pore.