Post-receptor events associated with thrombin-induced platelet activation.

Thrombin is by far the most potent platelet agonist. Potentially this reflects multiple intracellular processes involved in transmitting the activation signal from the initial contact with a receptor, or binding site, to the final platelet response. Platelet membranes have two putative receptors: the high affinity glycoprotein Ib, whose function remains to be clarified, and the moderate affinity autoproteolytic receptor. The autoproteolytic receptor is a member of a family of receptors, with seven transmembrane domains, which interact with GTP-binding proteins. Distal to the membrane, several forms of phospholipase C are activated and roles for both heterotrimeric and low molecular mass GTP-binding proteins have been presented. Phospholipase C acts on inositol phospholipids to generate inositol trisphosphate and diacylglycerol, both of which function as second messengers in thrombin-induced platelet activation. Inositol trisphosphate mobilizes internal calcium stores and this is accompanied, and enhanced, by an influx of calcium from the external milieu. Diacylglycerol and calcium both serve to regulate the activity of multiple protein kinases which, in turn, mediate the phosphorylated state of numerous proteins. Phosphorylation can occur on serine, threonine or tyrosine residues of target proteins and the phosphorylated state of these proteins determines the final activation of the platelet.