Differential catalytic properties and vascular topography of murine nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 1 (NTPDase1) and NTPDase2 have implications for thromboregulation.

Nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (NTPDases) are a recently described family of ectonucleotidases that differentially hydrolyze the gamma and beta phosphate residues of extracellular nucleotides. Expression of this enzymatic activity has the potential to influence nucleotide P2 receptor signaling within the vasculature. We and others have documented that NTPDase1 (CD39, 78 kd) hydrolyzes both triphosphonucleosides and diphosphonucleosides and thereby terminates platelet aggregation responses to adenosine diphosphate (ADP). In contrast, we now show that NTPDase2 (CD39L1, 75 kd), a preferential nucleoside triphosphatase, activates platelet aggregation by converting adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to ADP, the specific agonist of P2Y(1) and P2Y(12) receptors. We developed specific antibodies to murine NTPDase1 and NTPDase2 and observed that both enzymes are present in the cardiac vasculature; NTPDase1 is expressed by endothelium, endocardium, and to a lesser extent by vascular smooth muscle, while NTPDase2 is associated with the adventitia of muscularized vessels, microvascular pericytes, and other cell populations in the subendocardial space. Moreover, NTPDase2 represents a novel marker for microvascular pericytes. Differential expression of NTPDases in the vasculature suggests spatial regulation of nucleotide-mediated signaling. In this context, NTPDase1 should abrogate platelet aggregation and recruitment in intact vessels by the conversion of ADP to adenosine monophosphate, while NTPDase2 expression would promote platelet microthrombus formation at sites of extravasation following vessel injury. Our data suggest that specific NTPDases, in tandem with ecto-5'-nucleotidase, not only terminate P2 receptor activation and trigger adenosine receptors but may also allow preferential activation of specific subsets of P2 receptors sensitive to ADP (e.g., P2Y(1), P2Y(3), P2Y(12)) and uridine diphosphate (P2Y(6)).