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C T Esmon

Publications and source records attributed to C T Esmon.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Conversion of glutamic acid 192 to glutamine in activated protein C changes the substrate specificity and increases reactivity toward macromolecular inhibitors.

Protein C is a vitamin K-dependent serine protease zymogen that upon activation inhibits the coagulation cascade by inactivating factors Va and VIIIa. In an attempt to improve the anticoagulant activity of activated protein C (APC), we have prepared a mutant of protein C in mammalian cells in which Glu at position 192 (chymotrypsin numbering system) has been replaced with Gln (PC E192Q). Our strategy is based on the observation that the same substitution in thrombin improves the catalytic activity toward natural and synthetic substrates that contain Asp residues at P3 and P3'. Since factor Va also has an Asp at position P3 in the APC cleavage site of the factor Va heavy chain, we hypothesized that APC E192Q would inactivate factor Va more rapidly than wild type APC. The mutant inactivated factor Va approximately 2-3-fold faster than wild type. In plasma the mutant exhibited slightly less anticoagulant activity than wild type enzyme. Further characterization revealed that APC E192Q is inhibited 280 times faster than APC by alpha 1-antitrypsin (K2 = 2.8 x 10(3) M-1S-1 versus 10 M-1 S-1), and unlike APC, APC E192Q is inhibited by antithrombin III in the presence of heparin (K2 = 1.17 x 10(3) M-1 S-1) M-1 S-1) and absence of heparin (K2 = 57 M-1 S-1). Ca2+ increased K2 more than 4-fold with or without heparin. Unlike wild type APC, APC E192Q was effectively inhibited by pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (Ki = 10.6 +/- 0.26 nM) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (58 +/- 5 nM). Like factor Xa, APC E192Q rapidly processed factor IX to factor IX alpha. These observations suggest that even though Glu at position 192 is not an optimal residue for catalyzing factor Va inactivation, it is an evolutionary adaptation to slow inhibition by plasma protease inhibitors.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

The role of thrombin's Tyr-Pro-Pro-Trp motif in the interaction with fibrinogen, thrombomodulin, protein C, antithrombin III, and the Kunitz inhibitors.

When amino acids Pro60B, Pro60C, and Trp60D are deleted from thrombin, the resulting mutant (des-PPW) exhibits (compared to the wild-type enzyme): a similar second order rate constant of inhibition (k(on)) for diisopropyl fluorophosphate, and a comparable inhibition constant (K(i)) for benzamidine, suggesting that the charge stabilizing system and the primary binding pocket are little altered, if at all, by the mutation. As predicted from the x-ray structure, des-PPW is remarkably sensitive to the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, with a K(i) over 3 x 10(3) times tighter relative to thrombin, but des-PPW is also markedly less susceptible to inactivation by antithrombin III, with a k(on) that is over 100-fold lower. The catalytic constant (kcat) for most p-nitroanilide substrates tested is preserved or even increased, but the Michaelis constant (Km) increases. In contrast, the Km for the fibrinogen A alpha-chain is essentially unchanged, whereas kcat decreases approximately 50-fold. Unlike thrombin, the rate of fibrinopeptide B release becomes, following a lag phase, comparable to that of fibrinopeptide A. Inasmuch as des-PPW cleaves an additional peptide bond in the bovine fibrin alpha-chain, it remains a highly specific serine protease, which releases a single peptide from denatured casein (versus two with thrombin). Protein C activation by des-PPW is approximately 30 times slower than by thrombin in the absence, as well as in the presence, of calcium and thrombomodulin. Although this study confirms that the B-insertion restricts access to the active site cleft, it also suggests that other motifs and/or discrete amino acids are mainly responsible for the narrow specificity of thrombin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Molecular events that control the protein C anticoagulant pathway.

Despite its rather recent identification, the protein C activation system has afforded many investigators with unique opportunities to probe the molecular basis by which cofactors function. Thrombomodulin clearly exerts its specificity switch both by interacting directly with the fibrinogen binding site on thrombin (exosite 1) and by altering the conformation within the enzyme center. At least in the case of thrombomodulin, these conformational changes appear to overcome repulsive interactions between acidic residues in the substrate and the enzyme. To determine whether the models derived from attempts at the molecular analysis of the protein C activation complex are at all relevant to the other coagulation complexes will require further examination, but the concept that residues near the cleavage site contact residues in the free enzyme in an unfavorable fashion, and that the cofactors overcome these inhibitory interactions is a hypothesis that is directly testable for all of the complexes. The availability of crystal structures for the coagulation enzymes, coupled with the capacity to mutagenize both the substrate and the enzyme, promises to provide new insights into molecular events that control coagulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Analysis of the functions of the first epidermal growth factor-like domain of factor X.

Upon activation, factor X participates in the prothrombin activation complex. Similar to 4-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla)-domainless protein C, the Gla-domainless factor X (GDFX) contains a high affinity Ca(2+)-binding site critical for the function of these molecules. In the case of protein C, we recently demonstrated that the high affinity Ca(2+)-binding site critical for activation is outside the first epidermal growth factor (EGF) homology domain. To examine if this is also true for factor X, we have expressed in human 293 cells a deletion mutant of factor X (E2FX) which lacks the entire Gla region as well as the NH2-terminal EGF homology region of factor X. Direct binding studies by equilibrium dialysis indicate that E2FX contains a single Ca(2+)-binding site with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 154 +/- 48 microM. The functional properties of E2FX are equivalent or improved over those of GDFX. For instance, the factor X coagulant protein of Russell's viper venom activates E2FX three times faster than recombinant GDFX. Kinetic analysis of prothrombin activation in the absence of membranes indicates that activated GDFX and E2FX bind to factor Va with equal affinity (Kd = 4.1 microM). The Ca2+ concentration required for half-maximal prothrombin activation rates in the above activation system shifted from 721 +/- 113 microM for activated GDFX to 193 +/- 64 microM for activated E2FX. GDFX and E2FX activation rates with the soluble tissue factor-factor VIIa complex were identical as was the Ca2+ dependence of the reaction. We conclude that E2FX retains a high affinity Ca(2+)-binding site and that the first EGF homology domain does not appear to have a positive functional role in the GDFX molecule. However, Ca2+ occupancy of the Ca(2+)-binding site in the first EGF domain of intact factor X may be essential for optimal prothrombin activation.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

The chondroitin sulfate moiety of thrombomodulin binds a second molecule of thrombin.

The role of the chondroitin sulfate moiety of thrombomodulin (TM) in the binding of thrombin to TM has been examined using fluorescent derivatives of thrombin. An anilinonaphthalene-6-sulfonic acid (ANS) dye was attached covalently to the active site histidine of thrombin via a D-Phe-Pro-Arg (FPR) linkage to form ANS-FPR-thrombin. When ANS-FPR-thrombin was titrated with TM lacking the chondroitin sulfate moiety (csf-TM), a monotonic and saturable increase in ANS emission intensity was observed that was consistent with the formation of a high affinity 1:1 thrombin-csf-TM complex. In contrast, titration of ANS-FPR-thrombin with intact TM containing the chondroitin sulfate resulted in a biphasic change in ANS-FPR-thrombin emission intensity that was consistent with each molecule of TM binding at least two molecules of ANS-FPR-thrombin with different affinities. This suggested that the second thrombin binds to TM via the chondroitin sulfate moiety. A direct interaction between thrombin and chondroitin sulfate was demonstrated by showing that chondroitin sulfate, cleaved and purified from TM, caused a saturable increase in ANS emission intensity upon addition to an ANS-FPR-thrombin sample. This spectral change was reversed by adding an excess of unmodified thrombin. The minimum Kd for the ANS-FPR-thrombin-chondroitin sulfate complex was approximately 20 nM, consistent with chondroitin sulfate being the lower affinity binding site on TM for thrombin. The titration of chondroitin sulfate into ANS-FPR-thrombin samples in the absence and presence of a TM fragment containing the fifth and sixth growth factor-like domains (GF5-6) showed that GF5-6 did not block chondroitin sulfate binding and that a GF5-6-thrombin-chondroitin sulfate ternary complex was formed. Thus, the chondroitin sulfate binds to thrombin somewhere other than anion-binding exosite I, and in doing so, alters the structure and/or environment of the active site more than 15A from the active site serine without detectably changing the conformation near Ser-195. Since excess TM and excess csf-TM increased the ANS emission intensity of ANS-FPR-thrombin to different extents (approximately 15 and approximately 80%, respectively), the chondroitin sulfate also influences the environment of the active site probe even when thrombin is bound to the higher affinity site on TM (GF5-6).

Antithrombin III↗
PubMed1993

Inflammatory and procoagulant mediator interactions in an experimental baboon model of venous thrombosis.

Theoretic and in vitro evidence suggests that thrombosis and inflammation are interrelated. The purpose of the present study was to define the relationship between inflammation and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in an in vivo model. Initiation of DVT was accomplished by administration of antibody to protein C (HPC4, 2 mg/kg) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF, 150 micrograms/kg); stasis; and subtle venous catheter injury. Thrombosis was assessed by thrombin-antithrombin assay (TAT), 125I-fibrinogen scanning (scan) over both the proximal and distal iliac veins, and ascending venography. Cytokines TNF, interleukin-6 (IL-6), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), and interleukin-8 (IL-8) were measured along with differential white blood cell counts, platelet counts, fibrinogen (FIB), and erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR). Baboon pairs were sacrificed on day 3 (T + 3d), T + 6d, and T + 9d and veins removed. All animals developed inferior vena cava and left iliofemoral DVT by venography; no right DVT was found. TAT was elevated by T + 1hr and peaked at T + 3hrs. Left iliofemoral DVT was found at T + 1hr by scan and reached a 20% uptake difference between the affected left and nonaffected right side at T + 3hrs. TNF peaked at T + 1hr; MCP-1 peaked at T + 6hrs; IL-8 and IL-6 peaked on T + 2d; all cytokines declined to baseline. TNF and TAT elevations were found to correlate with all cytokines; elevations in IL-8 were correlated with elevations in MCP-1 and IL-6 (p < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Protein S enhances C4b binding protein interaction with neutrophils.

Protein S, an inhibitor of coagulation, interacts reversibly with C4b binding protein (C4bBP). The physiologic role of this complex formation remains unknown. In this study we examined the possibility that protein S would facilitate C4bBP binding to the surface of neutrophils where, in turn, this complex could help protect the cell from complement-mediated damage at the site of inflammation. Neutrophils bind approximately 60,000 protein S molecules per cell (kd = 140 nmol/L) in a Ca(2+)-dependent fashion. C4bBP also binds to neutrophils (23,000 sites per cell at physiologic C4bBP concentration), but this binding is not Ca2+ dependent. Protein S approximately doubled C4bBP binding, but protein S only influenced C4bBP binding in the presence of Ca2+. Protein S binding to neutrophils decreased approximately twofold in the presence of saturating concentrations of C4bBP. Neutrophil activation had only minor effects on the affinity and number of sites for protein S or the protein S-C4bBP complex. These results indicate that the protein S-C4bBP complex binds to the neutrophil surface where it can presumably modulate complement assembly on the cell surface.

Carrier Proteins↗
PubMed1993

Cell mediated events that control blood coagulation and vascular injury.

UNLABELLED: Recent studies suggest that the generation of thrombin and other clotting factors plays a major role in cellular regulation and probably a variety of disease processes. Many of these cellular responses occur at thrombin levels lower than those required for fibrin clot formation. The availability of more specific reagents to intervene in the coagulation process will likely provide a better understanding of the role of the coagulation cascade and its inhibitors in normal and pathologic responses. In the immediate future, improved understanding of the role of inflammation and cellular responses in the control of coagulation offers many new and potentially safer interventions to prevent thrombosis. DISCLAIMER: It was my intent in this chapter to provide some outlines of the role of membranes in the blood clotting process and the role of coagulation factors in cellular activation. The scope of the area is so extensive that many important contributions have been overlooked and space limitations forced citation of reviews rather than primary publications in many cases. I regret these oversights.

Blood Coagulation↗
PubMed1993

Antithrombotic effects of thrombin-induced activation of endogenous protein C in primates.

The effects on thrombosis and hemostasis of thrombin-induced activation of endogenous protein C (PC) were evaluated in baboons. Thrombosis was induced by placing into arteriovenous shunts a segment of Dacron vascular graft, which generated arterial platelet-rich thrombus, followed by an expansion region of low-shear blood flow, which in turn accumulated fibrin-rich venous-type thrombus. Thrombosis was quantified by 111In-platelet imaging and 125I-fibrinogen accumulation. Intravenous infusion of alpha-thrombin, 1-2 U/kg-min for 1 h, increased baseline activated PC levels (approximately 5 ng/ml) to 250-500 ng/ml (P < 0.01). The lower thrombin dose, which did not deplete circulating platelets, fibrinogen, or PC, reduced arterial graft platelet deposition by 48% (P < 0.05), and platelet and fibrin incorporation into venous-type thrombus by > 85% (P < 0.01). Thrombin infusion prolonged the activated partial thromboplastin clotting time, elevated fibrinopeptide A (FPA), thrombin-antithrombin III complex (T:AT III), and fibrin D-dimer plasma levels (P < 0.01), but did not affect bleeding times. Thrombin's antithrombotic effects were blocked by infusing a monoclonal antibody (HPC-4) which prevented PC activation in vivo, caused shunt occlusion, increased the consumption of platelets and fibrinogen, elevated plasma FPA and T:AT III levels, and reduced factor VIII (but not factor V) procoagulant activity (P < 0.05). We conclude that activated PC is a physiologic inhibitor of thrombosis, and that activation of endogenous PC may represent a novel and effective antithrombotic strategy.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

The function of calcium in protein C activation by thrombin and the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex can be distinguished by mutational analysis of protein C derivatives.

Protein C activation is catalyzed on endothelium by a complex between thrombin and thrombomodulin. Ca2+ stimulates protein C activation in the presence, and inhibits in the absence, of thrombomodulin. Protein C has Asp residues at the P3 and P3' positions relative to the scissile bond at Arg169-Leu. To determine the contribution of these residues to the Ca2+ effect on activation, we have expressed human 4-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla)-domainless protein C and 3 mutants with Asp-->Gly substitutions at P3, P3', and both positions. Ca2+ interaction with the protein C derivatives was monitored by changes in intrinsic fluorescence, and the Ca2+ dependence of activation by thrombin and a complex of thrombin-thrombomodulin with a soluble thrombomodulin derivative (the fourth through sixth epidermal growth factor domains). The affinity for Ca2+ of the mutants was reduced 3-6-fold, which was reflected by a comparable change in the Ca2+ concentration required for the half-maximal rate of activation by the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex. However, Ca2+ no longer effectively inhibited activation of the mutants by thrombin alone. We conclude that 1) the Asp residues play a specific role in the Ca(2+)-dependent inhibition of protein C activation by thrombin; 2) these mutations alter the affinity of Ca2+ for the high affinity binding site; and 3) the Asp residues in the P3 and P3' sites do not contribute in a positive fashion to rapid activation by the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Interaction of thrombin des-ETW with antithrombin III, the Kunitz inhibitors, thrombomodulin and protein C. Structural link between the autolysis loop and the Tyr-Pro-Pro-Trp insertion of thrombin.

X-ray diffraction studies of human thrombin revealed that compared with trypsin, two insertions (B and C) potentially limit access to the active site groove. When amino acids Glu146, Thr147, and Trp148, adjacent to the C-insertion (autolysis loop), are deleted the resulting thrombin (des-ETW) has dramatically altered interaction with serine protease inhibitors. Whereas des-ETW resists antithrombin III inactivation with a rate constant (Kon) approximately 350-fold slower than for thrombin, des-ETW is remarkably sensitive to the Kunitz inhibitors, with inhibition constants (Ki) decreased from 2.6 microM to 34 nM for the soybean trypsin inhibitor and from 52 microM to 1.8 microM for the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. The affinity for hirudin (Ki = 5.6 pM) is weakened at least 30-fold compared with recombinant thrombin. The mutation affects the charge stabilizing system and the primary binding pocket of thrombin as depicted by a decrease in Kon for diisopropylfluorophosphate (9.5-fold) and for N alpha-p-tosyl-L-lysine-chloromethyl ketone (51-fold) and a 39-fold increase in the Ki for benzamidine. With peptidyl p-nitroanilide substrates, the des-ETW deletion results in changes in the Michaelis (Km) and/or catalytic (kcat) constants, worsened as much as 85-fold (Km) or 100-fold (kcat). The specific clotting activity of des-ETW is less than 5% that of thrombin and the kcat/Km for protein C activation in the absence of cofactor less than 2%. Thrombomodulin binds to des-ETW with a dissociation constant of approximately 2.5 nM and partially restores its ability to activate protein C since, in the presence of the cofactor, kcat/Km rises to 6.5% that of thrombin. This study suggests that the ETW motif of thrombin prevents (directly or indirectly) its interaction with the two Kunitz inhibitors and is not essential for the thrombomodulin-mediated enhancement of protein C activation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

The high affinity calcium-binding site involved in protein C activation is outside the first epidermal growth factor homology domain.

Binding Ca2+ to a high affinity site in protein C and 4-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla)-domainless protein C results in a conformational change that is required for activation by the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex, the natural activator of protein C. It has been hypothesized that this high affinity Ca(2+)-binding site is located in the NH2-terminal epidermal growth factor (EGF) homology region of protein C. We have expressed in human 293 cells a deletion mutant of protein C (E2-PD) which lacks the entire Gla region as well as the NH2-terminal EGF homology region of protein C. Ca2+ inhibits activation of E2-PD or Gla-domainless protein C by thrombin with half-maximal inhibition occurring at Ca2+ concentrations of 103 +/- 11 and 70 +/- 7 microM, respectively, but is required for both E2-PD and Gla-domainless protein C activation by the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex with half-maximal acceleration occurring at Ca2+ concentrations of 87 +/- 8 and 89 +/- 8 microM, respectively. Both E2-PD and Gla-domainless protein C exhibit a reversible, Ca(2+)- but not Mg(2+)-dependent decrease (6 +/- 1%) in fluorescence emission intensity with Kd = 38 +/- 3 microM Ca2+. We conclude that the high affinity Ca(2+)-binding site important for the activation of protein C is located outside of the NH2-terminal EGF homology region and that the metal-binding site in the NH2-terminal EGF homology region may not be a high affinity site in intact protein C.

1-Carboxyglutamic Acid↗
PubMed1992

The fifth and sixth growth factor-like domains of thrombomodulin bind to the anion-binding exosite of thrombin and alter its specificity.

The domain of thrombomodulin that binds to the anion-binding exosite of thrombin was identified by comparing the binding of fragments of thrombomodulin to thrombin with that of Hirugen, a 12-residue peptide of hirudin that is known to bind to the anion-binding exosite of thrombin. Three soluble fragments of thrombomodulin, containing (i) the six repeated growth factor-like domains of thrombomodulin (GF1-6), (ii) one-half of the second through the sixth growth factor-like repeats (GF2.5-6), or (iii) the fifth and sixth such domains (GF5-6), were examined. Hirugen was a competitive inhibitor for either GF1-6 or GF2.5-6 stimulation of thrombin activation of protein C. GF5-6, which binds to thrombin without altering its ability to activate protein C, competed with fluorescein-labeled Hirugen for binding to thrombin. Therefore, all three thrombomodulin fragments, each of which lacked the chondroitin sulfate moiety, competed with Hirugen for binding to thrombin. To determine whether GF5-6 and Hirugen were binding to overlapping sites on thrombin or were interfering allosterically with each other's binding to thrombin, the effects of each thrombomodulin fragment and of Hirugen on the active site conformation of thrombin were compared using two different approaches: fluorescence-detected changes in the structure of the active site and the hydrolysis of chromogenic substrates. The GF5-6 and Hirugen peptides affected these measures of active site conformation very similarly, and hence GF5-6 and Hirugen contact residues on the surface of thrombin that allosterically alter the active site structure to a similar extent. Full-length thrombomodulin and GF1-6 alter the active site structure to comparable extents, but the amidolytic activity of thrombin complexed to thrombomodulin or GF1-6 differs significantly from that of thrombin complexed to GF5-6 or Hirugen. Taken together, these results indicate that the GF5-6 domain of thrombomodulin binds to the anion-binding exosite of thrombin. Furthermore, the binding of GF5-6 to the anion-binding exosite alters thrombin specificity, as evidenced by GF5-6-dependent changes in both the kcat and Km of synthetic substrate hydrolysis by thrombin. The contact sites on thrombin for the GF4 domain and the chondroitin sulfate moiety of thrombomodulin are still unknown.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

The role of calcium ions in factor X activation by thrombin E192Q.

Despite considerable sequence similarities, blood coagulation serine proteases exhibit remarkable specificity with respect to which zymogen they activate. The basis for this specificity presumably involves recognition of a short sequence within the extended binding pocket of the enzyme, other interactions remote from the catalytic groove, and modulation by a definite protein cofactor. In addition, Ca2+ plays a major role in most activation processes, but, because both the enzyme and its substrate interact with Ca2+, whether Ca2+ influences the substrate, the enzyme, or both remains an open question. Thrombin is not a factor X-activating enzyme, but when Glu192, 3 residues remote from the active Ser195, is replaced with glutamine, the resultant serine protease (E192Q) becomes a bovine, but not human, factor X activator. Kinetic experiments with peptides corresponding to human and bovine factor X activating sites reveal that threonine at position P2 in human (versus a valine in bovine) accounts for the species specificity. Substitution of the threonine in P2 of the human sequence with valine allows E192Q to cleave the human peptide whereas substitution of the valine in P2 of the bovine sequence with threonine hinders E192Q catalysis. Thrombin has no high affinity Ca2+ binding sites, and E192Q proteolysis of these peptides is not altered by Ca2+. The influence of Ca2+ in E192Q-mediated factor X activation provides therefore new insights into the role of the different Ca2+ binding sites in factor X. With factor X as substrate, the addition of Ca2+ enhances Kcat 4-fold but increases Km 10-fold. When the vitamin K-dependent gamma-carboxyglutamic acid domain of factor X is removed, the Km remains high with or without Ca2+ whereas Kcat still increases upon addition of the metal ion. These results suggest that factor X undergoes two metal-dependent suggest that factor X undergoes two metal-dependent transitions that influence the presentation of the activation site to activators.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

The complete cDNA sequence of bovine coagulation factor V.

Lack of availability of a primary structure for bovine factor V has hindered detailed analysis of a vast majority of structure-function correlations on this molecule. To determine the primary structure of bovine factor V, we used liver mRNA as a template for the synthesis of three cDNA libraries. The sequences of seven overlapping cDNA clones infer two bovine factor V variants. Variant 1 results in a 6910-basepair (bp) cDNA including 103 bp of 5'-untranslated sequence, 6633 bp of coding sequence and 171 bp of 3'-untranslated sequence with a putative polyadenylation site. Variant 2 differs only in the size of the coding sequence (6618 bp). The open reading frame translates to factor V consisting of 2211 (or 2206) amino acids including a 28-amino acid signal peptide. Comparison of the amino acid sequences with human factor Va reveals 84% identity for the heavy and 86% for the light chains. In contrast, the B domain (connecting region) exhibits only 59% identity relative to the human molecule. The bovine B domain contains two repeats of a 14-amino acid structure that is contained only once in the human sequence. Bovine factor V lacks one of the nine amino acid repeats and one of the 17 amino acid repeats present in the human B domain. Factor V has little homology to the factor VIII molecule in the B domain. The 17-amino acid repeat missing in bovine factor V allows identification of an 18-amino acid sequence that is homologous to the B domain of human factor VIII. These 18 amino acids may either constitute the unique vestige of a divergent evolution between the B domains of factors V and VIII or reveal the convergent evolution toward a critical epitope involved in the activation of both procofactors.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Ca2+ dependence of the interactions between protein C, thrombin, and the elastase fragment of thrombomodulin. Analysis by ultracentrifugation.

The two-way and three-way interactions among active-site-blocked bovine thrombin, bovine protein C, and the elastase fragment of rabbit thrombomodulin (elTM) were examined by analytical ultracentrifugation at 23.3 degrees C in 100 mM NaCl, 50 mM Tris (pH 7.65), and 1 mM benzamidine, in the presence of 0 to 5 mM calcium chloride. Thrombin and elTM form a tight (Kd less than 10(-8) M) 1:1 complex in the absence of Ca2+ that weakens with the addition of Ca2+ (Kd approximately 4 microM in 5 mM Ca2+). Without Ca2+, thrombin and protein C form a 1:1 complex (Kd approximately 1 microM) and what appears to be a 1:2 thrombin-protein C complex. The Kd for the 1:1 complex weakens over 100-fold in 5 mM CaCl2. Protein C and elTM form a Ca(2+)-independent 1:1 complex (Kd approximately 80 microM). Nearly identical binding to thrombin and elTM is observed when active-site-blocked activated bovine protein C is substituted for protein C. Thrombin inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphate and thrombin inhibited by a tripeptide chloromethyl ketone exhibited identical behavior in binding experiments, suggesting that the accessibility of protein C to the substrate recognition cleft of these two forms of thrombin is nearly equal. Human protein C binds with lower affinity than bovine protein C. Ternary mixtures also were examined. Protein C, elTM, and thrombin form a 1:1:1 complex which dissociates with increasing [Ca2+]. In the absence of Ca2+, protein C binds to the elTM-thrombin complex with an apparent Kd approximately 1 microM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗