Evaluation of the role of proline residues flanking the RGD motif of dendroaspin, an inhibitor of platelet aggregation and cell adhesion

The effect of a panel of proline mutants of dendroaspin, an inhibitor of platelet aggregation and cell adhesion, including A(42)- dendroaspin, A(17)-dendroaspin, A(49)-dendroaspin, A(42,47)-dendroaspin and A(47,49)-dendroaspin, was investigated using platelet-aggregation and cell-adhesion assays. Here we show that a single alanine-for-proline substitution did not affect potency when measured as the ability either to inhibit platelet aggregation induced by ADP (IC50 approximate to 170 nM) or to block transfected A375-SM cell adhesion to fibrinogen in the presence of Mn2+ as compared with wild-type dendroaspin. By comparison, double proline substitution with alanines significantly reduced the potency in both assays by approx. 5-8-fold. These observations, therefore, suggest that proline residues flanking the RGD motif in dendroaspin and other RGD-containing venom proteins, e.g. disintegrins, may contribute to maintaining a favourable conformation for the solvent-exposed RGD site for its recognition by integrin receptors.