Individual phosphatidylinositol transfer proteins have distinct functions that do not involve lipid transfer activity.

Platelets utilize signal transduction pathways facilitated by Class I phosphatidylinositol transfer proteins (PITPs). The two mammalian Class I PITPs, PITPα and PITPβ, are single PITP domain soluble proteins that are encoded by different genes and have 77% sequence identity, though their individual roles in mammalian biology remain uncharacterized. These proteins are believed to shuttle phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine between separate intracellular membrane compartments, thereby regulating phosphoinositide synthesis and second messenger formation. Previously, we observed that platelet-specific deletion of PITPα, the predominant expressed murine PITP isoform, had no effect on hemostasis, but had impaired tumor metastasis formation and disrupted phosphoinositide signaling. Here, we find that mice lacking the lesser expressed PITPβ in their platelets exhibit a similar phenotype. However, in contrast to PITPα-null platelet lysates that have impaired lipid transfer activity, PITPβ-null platelet lysates have essentially normal lipid transfer activity, although both isoforms contribute to phosphoinositide synthesis in vitro. Moreover, we found that platelet-specific deletion of both PITPs leads to ex vivo platelet aggregation/secretion and spreading defects, impaired tail bleeding, and profound tumor dissemination. Our studies also demonstrate that PITP isoforms are required for maintaining endogenous phosphoinositide PI(4,5)P2 levels and agonist stimulated second messenger formation. The data shown here demonstrate that both class I PITP isoforms contribute to phosphoinositide signaling in platelets, likely through distinct biochemical mechanisms or in different subcellular domains. They are functionally overlapping and either single isoform is able to maintain the homeostasis of platelets.