The Binding Of 125I-Von Willebrand Factor To Human Platelets In The Presence Of Ristocetin

The effect of ristocetin on the binding of 125I-porcine von Willebrand factor to human platelets was studied. Previously, we had shown that 125I-porcine von Willebrand factor binds to human platelets in the absence of ristocetin. The present work demonstrates that binding is stimulated by ristocetin and this stimulation is maximal at a ristocetin concentration of 2 mg/ml. At a ristocetin concentration of 0.5 mg/ml, Scatchard analysis indicates a binding constant of 5.18 × 10-9M and the presence of 105,000 binding sites. This compares with our previous finding, in the absence of ristocetin, of a binding constant of 2.92 × 10-7M and 4760 binding sites. These binding data assume the porcine von Willebrand factor to be a tetramer with a molecular weight of 9 × 105. This study indicates that ristocetin causes tighter binding and increases the number of binding sites on human platelets for porcine von Willebrand factor. Unlabelled porcine von Willebrand factor competitively inhibits the specific binding of the labelled protein and gives a binding constant of 0.17 × 10-9M. Similar results were obtained using human von Willebrand factor.