A colourimetric enzyme-linked sandwich assay for the detection of human platelets bound to a fibrinogen-coated surface.

A colourimetric enzyme-linked sandwich assay has been developed to investigate the binding of human platelets to fibrinogen. The presence of platelets bound to fibrinogen-coated plastic can easily be detected and quantitated. Platelets treated with chymotrypsin to expose the fibrinogen receptor, are fixed with paraformaldehyde, and stored frozen. The detection sandwich consists of a mouse monoclonal antibody directed against the human platelet CD9 antigen, and a rabbit anti-mouse immunoglobulin conjugated to the enzyme alkaline phosphatase. The cleavage of the phosphatase substrate p-nitrophenyl phosphate can be monitored colourimetrically. The data presented provide evidence that this method is capable of detecting platelet-fibrinogen binding in a physiologically relevant manner. The binding is inhibited by EDTA or excess fibrinogen. The fibrinogen alpha and gamma chain peptides, RGDS and LGGAKQAGDV, and the snake venom echistatin are also inhibitory with IC50 values of 135 microM, 1.8 mM and 100 nM respectively.