Membrane protein complexes involved in thrombospondin-1 regulation of nitric oxide signaling

Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) binding to its membrane receptor CD47 results in an inhibtion of the nitric oxide (NO) receptor soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) and a decrease in intracellular cGMP levels. This causes physiologic effects such as vasoconstriction and a rise in blood pressure. The mechanism by which TSP-1 binds to CD47 at the membrane to decrease sGC activity is largely unknown. CD47 can physically associate with a number of binding partners, including alphavbeta3 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). Binding of a C-terminal fragment of TSP-1 called E3CaG1 to CD47 leads to a rise in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+] i), which decreases sGC activity via a phosphorylation event. Binding of E3CaG1 is also known to disrupt the interaction between CD47 and VEGFR2, leading to a decrease in endothelial nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS) activity and cGMP levels through an Akt signaling pathway. However, it is not known whether other membrane proteins associated with CD47 are required for E3CaG1 binding and a subsequent [Ca2+]i increase. Plasmon-waveguide resonance (PWR) spectroscopy was employed to elucidate the mechanism of TSP-1 inhibition of sGC activity through membrane complexes involving CD47. Using PWR, I found E3CaG1 can bind specifically to CD47 within native Jurkat membranes with picomolar and nanomolar dissociation constants (Kd), suggesting multiple CD47 complexes are present. Among these complexes, CD47/VEGFR2 was found to bind E3CaG1 with a picomolar Kd and CD47/alpha vbeta3 was found to bind E3CaG1 with a nanomolar K d. In addition, the presence of an anti-VEGFR2 antibody inhibited the E3CaG1-induced calcium response, which suggested CD47 in complex with VEGFR2 was responsible for TSP-1 reduction of sGC activity. I show that when both CD47 and VEGFR2 are returned to a HEK 293T cell line that does not contain these receptors, an increase in [Ca2+]i upon E3CaG1 binding is restored. Interestingly, E3CaG1 was also found to bind to VEGFR2 in complex with the integrin alphavbeta3 on CD47-null cell lines and their derivations, causing a decrease in [Ca2+] i levels. Therefore, the third type 2 repeat and C-terminal domains of TSP-1 can cause both increases and decreases in calcium based upon the availability of protein complexes to which it binds.