Using intact human platelets as the immunogen and a functional, collagen-coated bead agglutination assay, we have produced a murine monoclonal antibody (6F1) that blocks the interaction between platelets and collagen in the presence of Mg++. 6F1 affinity-purified the platelet glycoprotein Ia/IIa complex, and approximately 800 molecules of 6F1 bound per platelet at saturation. 6F1 nearly completely inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation and inhibited platelet adhesion to collagen by greater than 95% when plasma proteins were absent. Antibody 10E5, which blocks the binding of adhesive glycoproteins to GPIIb/IIIa, produced only minor inhibition (approximately 25%) of adhesion under the same circumstances. In contrast, when tested in platelet-rich plasma (PRP), 6F1 had only a minor effect on collagen-induced platelet aggregation, prolonging the lag phase but not the slope or maximum aggregation. Similarly, when collagen was precoated with plasma, 6F1 caused less inhibition of platelet adhesion (53%) than without the precoating (greater than 95%). Antibody 10E5 inhibited this adhesion by 32%, and the combination of 6F1 and 10E5 was more effective than either alone, inhibiting it by 90%. Time course studies of platelet agglutination of collagen-coated beads using PRP containing physiologic concentrations of divalent cations showed early inhibition by 6F1, indicating that the GPIa/IIa receptor operates in this environment. With more prolonged incubation, however, 6F1 was less effective; this later agglutination could be partially prevented by adding 10E5 or PGE1 to the 6F1. These data support a model wherein collagen can directly interact with GPIa/IIa and can indirectly interact with GPIIb/IIIa via intermediary adhesive proteins. The physiological significance of these interactions, and potential interactions with other receptors, remains to be established.

To assess the individual contributions of the platelet glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa receptor and the alpha v beta 3 vitronectin receptor to platelet levels of fibrinogen and vitronectin, we analyzed the platelets from two groups of Glanzmann thrombasthenic patients: Iraqi- Jews, whose platelets lack both receptors, and Arab patients in Israel, whose platelets lack GPIIb/IIIa, but have normal or increased numbers of alpha v beta 3 vitronectin receptors. The platelets from both thrombasthenic groups had profound deficiencies of fibrinogen, but the defect in the Iraqi-Jewish patients' platelets appeared to be slightly more severe. This finding indicates that GPIIb/IIIa is the major determinant of platelet fibrinogen, presumably acting by receptor- mediated uptake, and that the alpha v beta 3 vitronectin receptor plays little or no role. Arab patients' platelets have normal amounts of platelet vitronectin, whereas Iraqi-Jewish patients' platelets have nearly five times as much vitronectin as control or Arab patients' platelets. To account for these data, we propose a working hypothesis in which vitronectin is synthesized in megakaryocytes and the alpha v beta 3 vitronectin receptor is involved in transport of the protein out of megakaryocytes and/or platelets. Collectively, these observations suggest that in addition to their recognized roles in cell adhesion and in the interaction of cells with extracellular proteins, integrin receptors may be important in protein trafficking into, and perhaps out of, platelets.