Subunit Flexibility of Multimeric von Willebrand Factor/Factor VIII Complexes. 2022

Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta Georgia 30322, United States.

Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a plasma glycoprotein that participates in platelet adhesion and aggregation and serves as a carrier for blood coagulation factor VIII (fVIII). Plasma VWF consists of a population of multimers that range in molecular weight from ∼ 0.55 MDa to greater than 10 MDa. The VWF multimer consists of a variable number of concatenated disulfide-linked ∼275 kDa subunits. We fractionated plasma-derived human VWF/fVIII complexes by size-exclusion chromatography at a pH of 7.4 and subjected them to analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate agarose gel electrophoresis, sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation (SV AUC), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and multi-angle light scattering (MALS). Weight-average molecular weights, M w, were independently measured by MALS and by application of the Svedberg equation to SV AUC and DLS measurements. Estimates of the Mark-Houwink-Kuhn-Sakurada exponents , αs, and αD describing the functional relationship between the z-average radius of gyration, , weight-average sedimentation coefficient, s w, z-average diffusion coefficient, D , and M w were consistent with a random coil conformation of the VWF multimer. Ratios of to the z-average hydrodynamic radius, , estimated by DLS, were calculated across an M w range from 2 to 5 MDa. When compared to values calculated for a semi-flexible, wormlike chain, these ratios were consistent with a contour length over 1000-fold greater than the persistence length. These results indicate a high degree of flexibility between domains of the VWF subunit.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
April 1980, The Journal of laboratory and clinical medicine,
Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
June 1981, Blood,
Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
May 1983, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
October 1990, Danish medical bulletin,
Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
January 1999, Methods in molecular medicine,
Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
January 1983, Progress in hematology,
Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
December 1987, Nihon Ketsueki Gakkai zasshi : journal of Japan Haematological Society,
Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
March 1998, Thrombosis and haemostasis,
Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
August 1981, Blood,
Ernest T Parker, and Sandra L Haberichter, and Pete Lollar
November 1987, Experimental hematology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!