Summary
The synthetic peptide SFLLRNPNDKYEPF, identical in sequence to the new amino-terminus
of the thrombin receptor generated following cleavage by thrombin, acts as a thrombin
receptor agonist/ activating peptide (TRAP). In this study, Northern blot analysis
showed that cultured human vascular smooth muscle cells (HVSMC) express a thrombin
receptor transcript. TRAP, in contrast to thrombin was shown to be a weak mitogen
for HVSMC. A combination of TRAP and enzymatically-inactivated thrombin (PPACK-thrombin)
which provides receptor occupancy, did not potentiate TRAP-induced mitogenesis, indicating
that TRAP and PPACK-thrombin do not reproduce the mitogenic effect of enzymatically-active
thrombin. Both thrombin and TRAP, induced the expression of c-fos and the PDGF-A gene
in a pertussis toxin (PTX)-insensitive manner. Examination of thrombin and TRAP-treated
cells by immunofluorescence staining followed by computer assisted image analysis
revealed that thrombin and to a lesser extent TRAP induced PDGF-AA protein expression.
Antibodies to PDGF-AA partially inhibited thrombin but not TRAP-induced mitogenesis
in HVSMC. This study indicates that in addition to the common signalling pathways
utilised by thrombin and TRAP, enzymatically-active thrombin activates other signalling
pathways and hence TRAP does not mimic fully the biological effect of thrombin on
HVSMC.